Throughout last year, Elphie and I discussed ideas of what to do and where to go with our vacation time. A previously planned trip to Russia fell apart with the COVID19 restrictions and any thoughts to try to reschedule fell apart due to war. The funds we had saved for that trip would be used for this trip. Some discussions were had about the idea of New Zealand due to connections we had there. About two years ago, my supervisor at Cornerstone Community Outreach, Jeremy Nicholls and his family went to his home country of New Zealand for what had initially been planned to be a visit and has since become an extended stay without any real insight as to what will come next for them. When September 2022 came to pass without a return from the Nicholls to Chicago, I reached out to see if they thought that they would remain in New Zealand at least until the start of Spring 2023. Jeremy got back to me that while much was still in the air, he figured that they would still be there and a visit could work out for us. We would need to figure out lodging as they didn't really have enough space for visitors. That wasn't a problem! We began to plan our ideas which expanded to include a visit to Australia as well. Elphie kept watching flight prices to try to gauge a good time to make our purchases...eventually settling on Black Friday. As time passed after that, it appeared we probably did get the best deals possible though perhaps earlier and better deals may have been available too. Our first day of travel included three flights with several hours of layovers in between while our return was one long flight. We settled on visiting Auckland New Zealand because that is where the Nicholls lived then determined that in Australia, we would go to Sydney. Elphie later learned that Melbourne likely had more of a subculture scene than Sydney but it was after we had our flights booked. I think Sydney ended up being a nice visit!
A couple weeks after booking the flights, a minor change occurred. This was around Christmas and there were all sorts of flight related issues going on, at least in the U.S.A. so we looked into the possibility of changing to a more direct option but the cost remained much higher than we paid so we just adjusted with the schedule and hoped not much more would change. There was only one other change that occurred ahead of time and it was somewhat major as it was moved to the next day, ha! We worked with it though.
We also originally took advantage of a Black Friday Deal on booking.com a hotel for Sydney called Adina. We thought we might need much of the time to recover from jet lag so we somewhat planned around that looking for accommodations we could relax in and had food options nearby including groceries. With the flight change which ended up giving us an extra day in Sydney, I tried to add another day to our booking but it increased the cost significantly. When I looked to make a completely new booking at the same hotel, the price was much closer to what we had booked originally so I canceled then rebooked. We canceled again a few weeks before the trip when Elphie found a more "luxury" option for a fairly decent price at Meriton Suites. I was thinking it was a bit more than we initially would have paid but it turned out to be less than Adina after we had to add the day. It seems that we got a pretty good deal! The hotels were basically in the same area but the Meriton Suites offered a complimentary ride from the airport rather than us having to figure out transit upon arriving so that also was a nice additional perk! It also had a pool!
We also booked an AirBnB for Auckland fairly early in our planning. We figured we could cancel if we found a better deal or option. It was also somewhat close to where the Nicholls' lived so connecting with the should be fairly easy. We ended up sticking with what we originally chose and the host was great and really friendly!
Both accommodations were quite close to public transit which we planned to utilize. We were actually able to keep our phones in "airplane mode" the entire time rather than paying for international service! I expected we might need service occasionally through the trip but we got by on wifi for the most part without much issue. There was one hiccup with regards to work related things which I could had addressed if I had activated cell coverage but ultimately it didn't matter all that much in the end. The maps on our iPhones were mostly functional as well which helped us navigate fairly easily.
We learned that we needed to apply for ETA Visas to enter both countries. It turned out that Elphie's little run in with the law some years ago would be a factor for Australia...she ended up having to fill out a lot more paperwork and it cost a lot more too but both of us received notification that we were permitted to enter both countries. We likely should have done that part first but we initially lacked the awareness of this need. I suppose it will be something we will keep in mind for whatever future international traveling we do.
In preparation for the long hours of travel, layovers, and major time zone changes, Elphie did research in hopes of finding a solution to lessen the affect of jet lag on us. Again, part of our plan was to use the hotel in Sydney to adjust if needed. She also researched options for toileting on the go in hopes to not have any repeats of some issues we dealt with in Europe including a bout of vertigo as we left. She gave incontinence pads a try in case she had to pee with no where to go however it didn't hold up well. She found "Travel John" and purchased a pack of those and they proved worthy during a test run. Also, she was recommended to try the hydration powders to supplement her water intake by Nora Thiessen which did seem to help with the jet lag affect. Elphie ended up purchasing Drip Drop brand at Meijer. After all her research and planning to be able to use the toilet whenever she wanted or needed, I found that both Australia and New Zealand were quite friendly to the public with their plentiful public restrooms. I learned this while I was researching navigation to get around Sydney and Auckland to find certain things we wanted to be sure to check out. Elphie never had to utilize her Travel Johns.
It seemed that we were well prepared before we left. I had done a currency exchange at PNC Bank. We worked out for Carlos to stay with Stein and had all food and litter box items that should cover the time we were gone. We scheduled and paid ahead of time for the Hobbiton tour through Cheeky Kiwi. I borrowed a GoPro from Skot Shaw (thanks Skot!) to use in the event I had a chance to go in the ocean and record fish or whatever else I could see underwater (I also bought a pair of goggles too!). We collected some stuff for the Nicholls family from their Chicago family/friends that wanted to get something to them as well as some food items that they were missing. On Friday night before leaving we got most everything packed up and ready to go for the next morning. The only thing we didn't have worked out was a ride to the airport. While prepping my cameras by charging batteries and trying to ensure that the lenses were clean and clear, I tried turning on the GoPro and testing it. As it turned out, the mini-SD card I use for my CrossTour CR-900 was to large in capacity so I had to make a final quick trip to Target to buy one that was 32GB (the largest the GoPro would allow) or less and thankfully the store in the neighborhood had one in stock! It seems strange that it couldn't function with the larger than 32GB card but I am glad I tested this before we left!
It seemed that we were all ready for this trip...all documentation was ready...we completed the check-in process on my phone. All we had left to do then really was to try to sleep then get on a CTA bus and train in the morning to head to O'Hare International Airport!
There are photo dumps from each day with some details about the trip posted to social media...those who know us, know where to look and see all that (Facebook and Instagram).
https://youtu.be/tFAfXhn15_M
I took screenshots of the map app off my iPhone 14 as well as a couple screenshots of Google Maps and found images of airplanes to animate along with drawing the route as a dotted line in the Motion 4 program on my Macbook to create animated maps and I used those files during the travel footage layering it at some points over the footage as we went along. I used one of those animated map files for the title sequence as well, also using some of the photos we took and creating an effect to appear the photos are dropped on the map as I have done in recent years. I decided to do a soundtrack for the promo and title project, taking audio clips from "Down Under" by Men At Work, "Dance Monkey" by Tones And I, "1998" by Rancid, "Leaky Tub" by The Rumjacks, "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by The Pogues, "The Fields Of Athenry" by Dropkick Murphys, "Poi E" by Patea Maori Club, "One Tree Hill" by U2, "Hey Ho To The Bottle I Go," "Fine Brew Of The Green Dragon," and "Far Over Misty Mountain Cold" from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings... then splicing them together with some radio static noise. After creating that soundtrack, I scraped the radio noise idea and replaced it with the unique sound to alert one that they can cross the street in Australia and New Zealand. I also used Motion 4 to create the end credits with logos from various businesses that we used to make the trip possible. This is basically the same process I have been doing on these little projects to add into the full video project for a few years now.
There are photo dumps from each day with some details about the trip posted to social media...those who know us, know where to look and see all that (Facebook and Instagram).
https://youtu.be/tFAfXhn15_M
I took screenshots of the map app off my iPhone 14 as well as a couple screenshots of Google Maps and found images of airplanes to animate along with drawing the route as a dotted line in the Motion 4 program on my Macbook to create animated maps and I used those files during the travel footage layering it at some points over the footage as we went along. I used one of those animated map files for the title sequence as well, also using some of the photos we took and creating an effect to appear the photos are dropped on the map as I have done in recent years. I decided to do a soundtrack for the promo and title project, taking audio clips from "Down Under" by Men At Work, "Dance Monkey" by Tones And I, "1998" by Rancid, "Leaky Tub" by The Rumjacks, "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by The Pogues, "The Fields Of Athenry" by Dropkick Murphys, "Poi E" by Patea Maori Club, "One Tree Hill" by U2, "Hey Ho To The Bottle I Go," "Fine Brew Of The Green Dragon," and "Far Over Misty Mountain Cold" from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings... then splicing them together with some radio static noise. After creating that soundtrack, I scraped the radio noise idea and replaced it with the unique sound to alert one that they can cross the street in Australia and New Zealand. I also used Motion 4 to create the end credits with logos from various businesses that we used to make the trip possible. This is basically the same process I have been doing on these little projects to add into the full video project for a few years now.
https://youtu.be/H31FfpFZZLQ
I made a short video shortly after we arrived in Australia attempting to document if the water flushes the opposite way in the Southern Hemisphere. I did this by filming as I flushed the toilets at home in Chicago, at the Vancouver International Airport, during the flight on Air Canada to New Zealand, at the Auckland International Airport, and the Meriton Suites once we settled in Sydney, Australia. Using iMovie on my iPhone I quickly edited and posted this video to social media. I wanted to add text but when I could not find a text option initially, I just posted the video and figured that I could I add some text to label where each flush occurred with the result and post it again, this time to YouTube as I created the full video project to document the trip.
We woke up fairly early for us on a weekend in order to try to leave the house by 10am on Saturday March 11th, 2023. Since we were mostly packed already, we made pretty good time getting ready to go. I made sure to document the direction of the toilet flushing before leaving home. We rode the CTA Western Bus to the northern arm of the Blue Line where we caught the train to O'Hare International Airport. I didn't capture any footage of the commute once we got on the bus until we got off the train and headed into the airport. I took the promo video and placed it in this spot for this project to act as a title scequence. Once at O'Hare, we went through the various processes of getting our bags checked and tagged and passing through security screening. We didn't have any issues! We got to our gate and as we waited, I watched some hockey and heard a flight being called for Erie, PA. I had earlier learned about the one flight on a small airplane each day from Chicago to Erie. Shortly before our flight, I decided to get a deep dish Uno Pizza and Coke. Our first flight was Chicago to Vancouver. Our boarding time was shortly after the Penguins game began, unfortunately.
Our first two flights were with Air Canada. We left Chicago around 3pm and arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia around 6pm. I captured our take off and landing for this trip as well as a couple shots while we flew over the clouds. After landing at Vancouver International Airport, we had a few hours of layover during which we left one gate and proceeded down a walkway, through a room where our passports were scanned more or less returned to the area we had come from but a floor below. We checked out some of the exhibitions on display in the terminal. I had hoped there would be an option to get poutine since we were in Canada but it did not seem to be available in the terminal where we were. I considered the option of getting something from A and W but didn't really feel that hungry. Elphie got some food at Hanami Express and then we waited for our flight. I could not access the streaming site I had often used for hockey to be able to watch the Penguins game that I missed on the flight (and it wasn't available in the inflight entertainment) so I spent the time nearly completing the Arrested Development series. I ended up one episode shy! Elphie forced me to drink water with the Drip Drop hydration powder as well. I decided while we were there, and having consumed the water with hydration powder, I would capture the toilet flushing in Vancouver International Airport. We boarded the Auckland New Zealand bound Air Canada flight. We had the last row of seats and it turned out to be a row with just two seats! This was nice so we didn't have to bother anyone when using the restroom. By the time that we were served our meal, I was finally getting hungry! Once again, I captured our take off. At some point, over the ocean I captured a shot of the glowing pink clouds. I also captured a shot of the airplane toilet flushing! I'm not sure when exactly we crossed the international date line but whatever we experienced of Sunday March 12th, 2023 was lived while in the air. We landed in New Zealand on Monday March 13th, 2023 at around 10:30am. I captured a few clips as we approached the islands of New Zealand and of course the descent and landing. Once at Auckland International Airport, we once again had to pass through another screening process which included getting rid of all liquids such as the can of Coke I had from the flight. This seemed a bit silly but I decided to go ahead and drink it and eat the sandwich I had saved as well before going through the checkpoint. During this check, my camera bag was stopped for an extra search. Apparently it was due to having "loose" AA batteries for the Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone. Once the security found those, they were taken and tossed out. In hindsight, I wish I had asked to switch out the partially used battery in the microphone for one of the unused ones that they were going to throw in the garbage. This frustrated me, but what can you do? It seems something new comes up each time. Once we got through that process, we turned a corner then went up some steps toward our gate.
We found the service desk for Air New Zealand which was our connecting flight to Sydney, Australia and checked with them about our checked luggage to be sure we weren't supposed to collect it somewhere as we thought we had heard we might need to do. Once they assured us that our luggage would be transferred for us, we sat down and waited for the next flight for a few more hours. I ended up taking advantage of the shower in one of the restrooms. Unfortunately I dropped my bar of soap and tried to get all the dust, dirt and hairs it accumulated off of it! I also didn't have a towel handy so I dried off the best I could using the clothes I had been wearing previously. Again, I captured the toilet flushing and I believe this one was the best example I captured showing the water spinning counter clockwise and opposite from what we see in the northern hemisphere. We boarded our flight to Sydney around 6pm after delay. It was a few hour flight and again I captured taking off, some cloud shots, our approach to Australia, and the descent and landing at Sydney International Airport at around 7:30pm. Once off the airplane, we visited the restroom then proceeded through the very long line to be processed by customs and immigration. Some folks pushed through as though the line didn't pertain to them! We finally got through and I had no issues but unfortunately, again due to the legal situation in her past, Elphie was pulled aside to be questioned. I collected our bags and made contact with our ride who was waiting for us. We had arrived late due to the delay and then the customs process added to that. Thankfully, he was able to wait for us. It was a ride share rather than a taxi or shuttle and we had to tell him which hotel to take us to. By the time we got to the Meriton Suites, it was around 9:30pm. We got checked in and hurried to the Woolworths, the local grocery store. We found options for local meats such as Kangaroo at the grocery store as well as Krispy Kreme donuts! We gathered what we would need for breakfast, including an Australia Bush Foods cereal, and stuff to make sandwiches for the day. We also gathered some drinks and coffee too. We came back to our room and Elphie decided to shower as I attempted to figure out the television situation. It turned out that the plumbing for the shower was clogged! Elphie's shower water was flowing out of the bathroom! We called the front desk who moved us to a different room on the other side of the building! We gathered all of our stuff, including the groceries we had just put away and moved to our new room. It took us a couple trips to do this. We immediately turned on the shower to make sure everything would drain properly and it did. We found that the bathroom sink however did not drain. We decided to just use the kitchen sink for everything instead. Other than the odd plumbing issues, the accommodations were awesome! We settled in and went to bed fairly early after the long travel days we just experienced.
Our first two flights were with Air Canada. We left Chicago around 3pm and arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia around 6pm. I captured our take off and landing for this trip as well as a couple shots while we flew over the clouds. After landing at Vancouver International Airport, we had a few hours of layover during which we left one gate and proceeded down a walkway, through a room where our passports were scanned more or less returned to the area we had come from but a floor below. We checked out some of the exhibitions on display in the terminal. I had hoped there would be an option to get poutine since we were in Canada but it did not seem to be available in the terminal where we were. I considered the option of getting something from A and W but didn't really feel that hungry. Elphie got some food at Hanami Express and then we waited for our flight. I could not access the streaming site I had often used for hockey to be able to watch the Penguins game that I missed on the flight (and it wasn't available in the inflight entertainment) so I spent the time nearly completing the Arrested Development series. I ended up one episode shy! Elphie forced me to drink water with the Drip Drop hydration powder as well. I decided while we were there, and having consumed the water with hydration powder, I would capture the toilet flushing in Vancouver International Airport. We boarded the Auckland New Zealand bound Air Canada flight. We had the last row of seats and it turned out to be a row with just two seats! This was nice so we didn't have to bother anyone when using the restroom. By the time that we were served our meal, I was finally getting hungry! Once again, I captured our take off. At some point, over the ocean I captured a shot of the glowing pink clouds. I also captured a shot of the airplane toilet flushing! I'm not sure when exactly we crossed the international date line but whatever we experienced of Sunday March 12th, 2023 was lived while in the air. We landed in New Zealand on Monday March 13th, 2023 at around 10:30am. I captured a few clips as we approached the islands of New Zealand and of course the descent and landing. Once at Auckland International Airport, we once again had to pass through another screening process which included getting rid of all liquids such as the can of Coke I had from the flight. This seemed a bit silly but I decided to go ahead and drink it and eat the sandwich I had saved as well before going through the checkpoint. During this check, my camera bag was stopped for an extra search. Apparently it was due to having "loose" AA batteries for the Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone. Once the security found those, they were taken and tossed out. In hindsight, I wish I had asked to switch out the partially used battery in the microphone for one of the unused ones that they were going to throw in the garbage. This frustrated me, but what can you do? It seems something new comes up each time. Once we got through that process, we turned a corner then went up some steps toward our gate.
We found the service desk for Air New Zealand which was our connecting flight to Sydney, Australia and checked with them about our checked luggage to be sure we weren't supposed to collect it somewhere as we thought we had heard we might need to do. Once they assured us that our luggage would be transferred for us, we sat down and waited for the next flight for a few more hours. I ended up taking advantage of the shower in one of the restrooms. Unfortunately I dropped my bar of soap and tried to get all the dust, dirt and hairs it accumulated off of it! I also didn't have a towel handy so I dried off the best I could using the clothes I had been wearing previously. Again, I captured the toilet flushing and I believe this one was the best example I captured showing the water spinning counter clockwise and opposite from what we see in the northern hemisphere. We boarded our flight to Sydney around 6pm after delay. It was a few hour flight and again I captured taking off, some cloud shots, our approach to Australia, and the descent and landing at Sydney International Airport at around 7:30pm. Once off the airplane, we visited the restroom then proceeded through the very long line to be processed by customs and immigration. Some folks pushed through as though the line didn't pertain to them! We finally got through and I had no issues but unfortunately, again due to the legal situation in her past, Elphie was pulled aside to be questioned. I collected our bags and made contact with our ride who was waiting for us. We had arrived late due to the delay and then the customs process added to that. Thankfully, he was able to wait for us. It was a ride share rather than a taxi or shuttle and we had to tell him which hotel to take us to. By the time we got to the Meriton Suites, it was around 9:30pm. We got checked in and hurried to the Woolworths, the local grocery store. We found options for local meats such as Kangaroo at the grocery store as well as Krispy Kreme donuts! We gathered what we would need for breakfast, including an Australia Bush Foods cereal, and stuff to make sandwiches for the day. We also gathered some drinks and coffee too. We came back to our room and Elphie decided to shower as I attempted to figure out the television situation. It turned out that the plumbing for the shower was clogged! Elphie's shower water was flowing out of the bathroom! We called the front desk who moved us to a different room on the other side of the building! We gathered all of our stuff, including the groceries we had just put away and moved to our new room. It took us a couple trips to do this. We immediately turned on the shower to make sure everything would drain properly and it did. We found that the bathroom sink however did not drain. We decided to just use the kitchen sink for everything instead. Other than the odd plumbing issues, the accommodations were awesome! We settled in and went to bed fairly early after the long travel days we just experienced.
Sydney Australia (03.14.2023 - 03.18.2023)
https://youtu.be/vW14BFiVfDI
We woke up around noon I believe on Tuesday March 14th, 2023. It had been raining but we started to look into some ideas of things that we could do in Sydney since we were awake and felt rested. I shot some footage of the suite we were staying in at the Meriton Suites including from our deck showing the cars traveling the opposite direction than in the U.S.A. We had breakfast and coffee. The Australian Bush Foods cereal was great! Elphie captured a short clip of a morning cartoon then we headed off as the rain had stopped. I put a short clip of the screen capture of Sydney from Google Maps along with a Sydney logo into the project here between us leaving the hotel and heading into Sydney. We used the public transit and after figuring out how to get an OPAL card, we headed into Sydney on a train. The middle portion of the train cars are double decker! We arrived at the Circular Quay station where one can also catch ferries to cross the harbor. Elphie used the public restroom and decided to capture another flush to see which way the water would go. It proved inconclusive. As we left toward the Sydney Opera House, Elphie captured a clip of the sea gulls as she said "Mine" in reference to Finding Nemo. I captured footage of the Harbour Bridge then several shots around the Sydney Opera House. Elphie also captured more footage quoting more lines and making references to Finding Nemo. I also captured some battle ships sitting in the Harbor from the east side of the Sydney Opera House as well as the skyline and the Royal Botanic Garden. We decided to walk around the Sydney Opera House to the harbor side of it and as we passed, we could hear was sounded like a rock band playing or practicing inside. I tried to capture a clip of a guy standing back turned toward the window...perhaps the sound engineer or something. Once on the harbor side of the Sydney Opera House, I captured a shot of Luna Park under the Harbour Bridge and happened to find a seal resting on the steps which lead into the harbor. There was a sign about the seal being monitored and assessed and of course to leave it alone. We captured some footage of it then began to head toward the city side of the Sydney Opera House, stopping once for more footage of sea gulls and to say "mine!" to them. We went into the Royal Botanic Garden from here, using steps. I captured footage of some sculptures along the way. We also happened to walk by "Memory Is Creation Without End" but I didn't realize it until we were back at our suite checking off Atlas Obscura sites we had visited. We continued through the Royal Botanic Garden, encountering various birds which Elphie faked like she was going to feed them so they started following us! We found a restroom...Elphie again tested the flushing direction. We found what I believe to be a water dragon near the restroom. Elphie was somewhat afraid of it...and the ants! ha! I captured footage around the area and as we made our way out of the Royal Botanic Garden as well. There was a plant sculpture that looked like a whale then we found the rose garden and a couple of fountains on our way out. We did not see the bats in the Royal Botanic Garden as they had been moved elsewhere to try to preserve the trees. Next to the Royal Botanic Garden was the New South Wales State Library. There were statues around it, including one of Matthew Flinders and his cat Trim, who apparently sailed with Matthew Flinders and even fell off a boat and climbed back in! We continued south on MacQuarie Way, passing the Sydney Hospital and a statue called Il Porcellino which appeared to have slots to accept coin donations. Apparently one is meant to rub its nose as well. We continued passed the Mint, which had signs in recognition of the indigenous people of the land, and arrived at the Hyde Park Barracks which has a memorial to the Great Irish Famine on one of its walls. We continued toward Saint Mary's Cathedral. We crossed over to Hyde Park and got some shots of the cathedral then I got some shots of the Archibald Memorial Fountain just before a rainstorm came in...and as the bats began to fly! I got a couple shots with my Canon Rebel T6s before putting it away so as to not have a repeat of poor luck like in New Orleans. I got a few more shots using my iPhone and Elphie did as well. We took shelter under the roof of a lawfirm building nearby and I hoped to be able to get more and better shots of the bats than either of us were able to do. Once the rain subsided, we continued our journey around Sydney...we made our way toward the Forgotten Songs Sound Sculpture which was in an alley of the more upscale shopping, dining, and entertainment area of the city. The alley was called Angel Place. On our way to it, Elphie captured some footage of a ritzy store front display. I ended up capturing a shot of the Australia Coat of Arms on one of the buildings. The Forgotten Songs Sound Sculpture was created to honor the many species of birds which were now extinct in the Sydney area due to human encroachment. From here, we walked down George Street where we encountered PRIDE decor along the road and then decided to head uphill on Essex to get to Cumberland in order to find the Sirius Building and see if we could find somewhere to eat dinner. We ended up walking by a building where an excavation was preserved as part of the Sydney Living Museums. As we looked at menus on the different restaurants, we ended up deciding on a pizza restaurant and bar called The Australian Heritage Hotel. It took a bit but we finally figured out the process of ordering and placed our order for a Coat of Arms pizza which had kangaroo and emu meat on it! It was very good! Elphie again documented the toilet flush before we left! ha! Afterwards, as we thought about it, we realized that the pizza at The Australian Heritage Hotel was something that we had researched prior to leaving on this trip as an option for a meal. We walked toward the harbor in order to hopefully see the Sirius Building on the next block or so. I captured a shot of the Sydney Opera House lit up from the hillside where we were. The Sirius Building was under renovation so seeing it didn't really work out so well but we did see its site at least. We continued to walk down the hill and found a business where one can climb on the Harbour Bridge! As we continued to the waterfront, I captured some footage of Luna Park lit up across the harbor, The Harbour Bridge, and the Sydney Opera House. We walked down Hickson Road and passed a Post Office Box as we made our way toward a series of piers. There were many people fishing off the piers and in one building there were a number of dance classes going on. We walked around there for a bit then decided to start heading back to our hotel. I navigated us and directly as I could toward Circular Quay, and ended up climbing a staircase then a bit of a hill which was near the Sydney Observatory. While up there, we could see and hear the bats! I captured some footage of that, though it is very dark. I'm not sure how well it will turn out but I will be including it in the project anyway. We continued toward the neighborhood called The Rocks where we found a phone booth and on to the Circular Quay transit station to commute back to the hotel. It seems that some of the nightlife at least in Sydney is based in The Rocks though most businesses were closing up as we came through around 10pm. It ended up being a fairly productive day with a lot of sites visited!
We woke up around noon I believe on Tuesday March 14th, 2023. It had been raining but we started to look into some ideas of things that we could do in Sydney since we were awake and felt rested. I shot some footage of the suite we were staying in at the Meriton Suites including from our deck showing the cars traveling the opposite direction than in the U.S.A. We had breakfast and coffee. The Australian Bush Foods cereal was great! Elphie captured a short clip of a morning cartoon then we headed off as the rain had stopped. I put a short clip of the screen capture of Sydney from Google Maps along with a Sydney logo into the project here between us leaving the hotel and heading into Sydney. We used the public transit and after figuring out how to get an OPAL card, we headed into Sydney on a train. The middle portion of the train cars are double decker! We arrived at the Circular Quay station where one can also catch ferries to cross the harbor. Elphie used the public restroom and decided to capture another flush to see which way the water would go. It proved inconclusive. As we left toward the Sydney Opera House, Elphie captured a clip of the sea gulls as she said "Mine" in reference to Finding Nemo. I captured footage of the Harbour Bridge then several shots around the Sydney Opera House. Elphie also captured more footage quoting more lines and making references to Finding Nemo. I also captured some battle ships sitting in the Harbor from the east side of the Sydney Opera House as well as the skyline and the Royal Botanic Garden. We decided to walk around the Sydney Opera House to the harbor side of it and as we passed, we could hear was sounded like a rock band playing or practicing inside. I tried to capture a clip of a guy standing back turned toward the window...perhaps the sound engineer or something. Once on the harbor side of the Sydney Opera House, I captured a shot of Luna Park under the Harbour Bridge and happened to find a seal resting on the steps which lead into the harbor. There was a sign about the seal being monitored and assessed and of course to leave it alone. We captured some footage of it then began to head toward the city side of the Sydney Opera House, stopping once for more footage of sea gulls and to say "mine!" to them. We went into the Royal Botanic Garden from here, using steps. I captured footage of some sculptures along the way. We also happened to walk by "Memory Is Creation Without End" but I didn't realize it until we were back at our suite checking off Atlas Obscura sites we had visited. We continued through the Royal Botanic Garden, encountering various birds which Elphie faked like she was going to feed them so they started following us! We found a restroom...Elphie again tested the flushing direction. We found what I believe to be a water dragon near the restroom. Elphie was somewhat afraid of it...and the ants! ha! I captured footage around the area and as we made our way out of the Royal Botanic Garden as well. There was a plant sculpture that looked like a whale then we found the rose garden and a couple of fountains on our way out. We did not see the bats in the Royal Botanic Garden as they had been moved elsewhere to try to preserve the trees. Next to the Royal Botanic Garden was the New South Wales State Library. There were statues around it, including one of Matthew Flinders and his cat Trim, who apparently sailed with Matthew Flinders and even fell off a boat and climbed back in! We continued south on MacQuarie Way, passing the Sydney Hospital and a statue called Il Porcellino which appeared to have slots to accept coin donations. Apparently one is meant to rub its nose as well. We continued passed the Mint, which had signs in recognition of the indigenous people of the land, and arrived at the Hyde Park Barracks which has a memorial to the Great Irish Famine on one of its walls. We continued toward Saint Mary's Cathedral. We crossed over to Hyde Park and got some shots of the cathedral then I got some shots of the Archibald Memorial Fountain just before a rainstorm came in...and as the bats began to fly! I got a couple shots with my Canon Rebel T6s before putting it away so as to not have a repeat of poor luck like in New Orleans. I got a few more shots using my iPhone and Elphie did as well. We took shelter under the roof of a lawfirm building nearby and I hoped to be able to get more and better shots of the bats than either of us were able to do. Once the rain subsided, we continued our journey around Sydney...we made our way toward the Forgotten Songs Sound Sculpture which was in an alley of the more upscale shopping, dining, and entertainment area of the city. The alley was called Angel Place. On our way to it, Elphie captured some footage of a ritzy store front display. I ended up capturing a shot of the Australia Coat of Arms on one of the buildings. The Forgotten Songs Sound Sculpture was created to honor the many species of birds which were now extinct in the Sydney area due to human encroachment. From here, we walked down George Street where we encountered PRIDE decor along the road and then decided to head uphill on Essex to get to Cumberland in order to find the Sirius Building and see if we could find somewhere to eat dinner. We ended up walking by a building where an excavation was preserved as part of the Sydney Living Museums. As we looked at menus on the different restaurants, we ended up deciding on a pizza restaurant and bar called The Australian Heritage Hotel. It took a bit but we finally figured out the process of ordering and placed our order for a Coat of Arms pizza which had kangaroo and emu meat on it! It was very good! Elphie again documented the toilet flush before we left! ha! Afterwards, as we thought about it, we realized that the pizza at The Australian Heritage Hotel was something that we had researched prior to leaving on this trip as an option for a meal. We walked toward the harbor in order to hopefully see the Sirius Building on the next block or so. I captured a shot of the Sydney Opera House lit up from the hillside where we were. The Sirius Building was under renovation so seeing it didn't really work out so well but we did see its site at least. We continued to walk down the hill and found a business where one can climb on the Harbour Bridge! As we continued to the waterfront, I captured some footage of Luna Park lit up across the harbor, The Harbour Bridge, and the Sydney Opera House. We walked down Hickson Road and passed a Post Office Box as we made our way toward a series of piers. There were many people fishing off the piers and in one building there were a number of dance classes going on. We walked around there for a bit then decided to start heading back to our hotel. I navigated us and directly as I could toward Circular Quay, and ended up climbing a staircase then a bit of a hill which was near the Sydney Observatory. While up there, we could see and hear the bats! I captured some footage of that, though it is very dark. I'm not sure how well it will turn out but I will be including it in the project anyway. We continued toward the neighborhood called The Rocks where we found a phone booth and on to the Circular Quay transit station to commute back to the hotel. It seems that some of the nightlife at least in Sydney is based in The Rocks though most businesses were closing up as we came through around 10pm. It ended up being a fairly productive day with a lot of sites visited!
https://youtu.be/EKYjAdLKIho
I woke up around 10am on Wednesday March 15th, 2023 to watch a stream the Penguins Tuesday hockey game. I was able to catch a couple of the games during our time in Australia. After watching the game and getting ready, Elphie and I decided to have a beach day! We started out heading to one that had a plane spotting location. On the way to catch the bus, we passed Elphick Street! We had a bit of a walk from the closest bus station to the beach. We had to pass through Sir Joseph Banks Park and I think we took the longer route around the pond to get where we could cross a highway and finally get to Foreshore Beach. It was next to an industrial park or loading dock as well as the Sydney International Airport. As we approached, there were signs warning to not swim within three days of rain due to pollution runoff. We walked to the Mill Stream Lookout and captured a few planes taking off and a couple landing. We were to the side of the runway...I had hoped we'd be where the planes would be able to take off or land directly overhead as I have seen videos of happening on the internet. Nonetheless, it was sort of cool to capture take offs and landings from quite close! We had a crow with a strange voice visit us as well while on the lookout platform. I decided to get in the water, despite the warning signs, and tried out the GoPro that Skot Shaw had allowed me to borrow. The water wasn't particularly clear. I shot a couple of the take offs from the water as well just for fun. We left Foreshore Beach and found a quicker route around the pond in the park to get to the bus stop. We took three busses to get near the Clovelly Beach. We stopped to have our first Fish and Chips at Out Of The Blue before proceeding to the beach. We sat and ate the Fish and Chips just outside the restaurant with a roundabout intersection right next to us. It was interesting to watch the traffic at this busy intersection! The Fish and Chips were good...fairly salty but definitely better than I had anticipated. I guess my mindset was the equivalent to fish sticks and it couldn't be further from that garbage! ha! We decided to take the bus down the hill to Clovelly Beach. It was a narrow cove with sand on one end and the surf out the other end at the ocean. It also had a pool next to the water which I assume also was filled with sea water. We crossed around the sandy beach and set up on the rocks on the north side of the cove. Elphie hung out there and I went in the water by way of a small staircase with the GoPro. I was able to capture some footage of fish and the sea floor though trying to actually film steady was difficult with the waves pushing me around. I apologize for any sea sickness to occur to anyone who watches this section! I spend a little time in the water then we made our way to the Waverley Cemetery which sits between Clovelly and Bronte Beaches along the sea! It is an old cemetery and there is a walkway attached to the cliffside over the ocean We didn't explore too much in the cemetery as it was somewhat overgrown. There was a magpie on one of the stones and another walking through a pathway in the cemetery. I captured the sea motion a bit as well while in this area. As we walked to the cemetery, we passed a rugby practice as well as a bowling club. We proceeded to Bronte Beach which also had a bath. I decided to get in the bath and see what that was like. There were also surfers at this beach and I was able to capture some footage of the surfing. The sun was setting while we were at this beach and the bats came out. I captured a few shots of those bats as we waited on a bus to get to Centennial Parklands where our research indicated that the bats were now residing. Unfortunately, we were unable to get there before dark and the darkness of the park made Elphie a bit nervous so we hustled our way through the park to catch a ride on the tram to the central station in Sydney and we could get back to our hotel. We did capture footage of gargoyles at the entrance to the park and while I didn't get to capture any of it, we could hear the bats and sometimes see them swoop near us. As we made our way to the transit center, we passed a couple stadiums. I ended up developing a case of turf toe as well, possibly from hustling through Centennial Parklands. It was an inconvenience throughout the rest of the trip and even beyond once back home.
On Thursday March 16th, 2023, it was forecasted to be a scorcher! We decided to partake in the Meriton Suites pool during the early afternoon then head out as it began to cool off. I took the GoPro with me in the pool and played around with it in that controlled environment. I let it sink to the bottom and found that it would sink lens first every time. I also took it into the sauna room and the spa tub for the fun of it. When we ventured out later in the day, we headed to the Sydney Olympic village out on the edge of town. It has a special train just to get there. I noticed that we passed the Rookwood Cemetery which is the largest in the southern hemisphere! We saw a few of the stadiums then began to walk toward where some shipwrecks sit in the water. I'm not sure I would necessarily describe them as shipwrecked but they were left to rot. Some of them, such as the S.S. Ayrfield, had Badu Mangroves growing out of them! Getting to the shipwrecks meant walking something of a nature trail. We passed an interesting mound called the Bay Marker. Elphie wasn't particularly happy with this walk as there were bugs and spiderwebs about but we made it! I was able to touch a couple of the ship wreckages as well as the mangrove trees. We made it shortly before sunset then made our way back to the Olympic village transit station. As we made our way back in probably a bit more direct route, we passed a structure called a Brickpit Ring Walk and I captured a shot of a couple stadiums. I wish we had realized where the Olympic Cauldron was but we ended up missing that due in part to finding a bus arriving that we could take to get to North Strathfield for our dinner at Outback Steakhouse! Elphie thought it would be funny to go there while visiting Australia so we did...and she ordered a Bloomin' Onion! They brought out two because they were out of the regular large onions. Elphie was disappointed. We walked around a bit in North Strathfield after finishing our meal at Outback Steakhouse then caught a train back into Sydney. I suggested taking a short walk once we got to the Central station so we could see the Mortuary Station. As we walked, we found a fairly busy area of the city at least later at night. We also found the Charles Darwin University. We made our way to the Mortuary Station and captured some dark footage of that before heading back toward Charles Darwin University and the Central Transit hub. I also captured footage of a another interesting building on a corner near the Mortuary Station. We checked out the busyness going on near the Central Transit hub...there was a McDonald's (but no Shamrock Shake) and a Taco Bell (but no Baja Blast or any Mountain Dew) along with a few other restaurants. I captured some footage of a guy on his skateboard and the corridor through the Central Station as we made our way to the proper track to head back to the hotel.
https://youtu.be/R_Hlzrd4_1k
Friday March 17th, 2023 was Saint Patrick's Day and in our research we found that the Sydney Opera House would be lit in green that night so one of the things we planned was to try to get somewhere that we would be able to see it. We started the day by going to Lillipad Café which served Aboriginal food. We picked a sampler plater. It was really good food! We found out about the Lillipad Café through Atlas Obscura. After we finished up our meal, we decided to go check out Chinatown. There was a weird tree sculpture that we passed that had gold tongues on it and dripped water into a puddle called the Golden Mouth. We saw that there was a Paddy's Market and decided to check it out. While walking there, we heard a busker playing "Hallelujah." Inside the market, we ended up buying most of the souvenirs we would need. There was a fresh fruit and meat section as well as other oddities besides Australian souvenirs. We walked through pretty much all of it and then decided to head back to the Meriton Suites so we didn't have to carry all the souvenirs for the rest of the day. We were quite close to the Central transit hub so we caught a train back to Mascot to deliver our goods. As we approached Central Station, we found a tree full of noisy cockatoos! We made one other stop at a corner store because we were not finding any jerky which we hoped to buy. After dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we decided to head out to the Newtown part of Sydney where there had been advertised a "Full Moon Fire Jam." Strangely, we had not seen the moon at all so far while in Australia. We caught a couple of busses then we got off on the edge of Newtown and decided to walk the main drag. This was the first area of the city where we saw considerable graffiti and other urban art. It was definitely a busy area and seemed to have a night life as well. There were a few badly dilapidated buildings as well. We also found Gould's Book Arcade as we passed by. We captured some footage of the neighborhood as we walked and then made our way to the park where this fire jam was meant to be taking place. We found a group of folks partaking in wine and a few bats as well...I even captured a couple on video! We walked around the entirety of the park and as we were about ready to give up, Elphie asked a few folks walking by if they knew anything about the fire jam. One guy spoke up that he was also looking for it. He had a unicycle and a variety of fun circus like items to use including such that one would use at a fire jam. It turned out he was the only other one looking for the event. I eventually found a wifi signal and based on the information I had, it seemed that the fire jam had been postponed to the next week or the week after that. The guy ended up showing Elphie a few things with a set of rings that looked like eights. She got something of a hang of it. I captured that on video as well as some of the tricks that the guy was doing and some more bats. We hung out for probably an hour there before going our separate ways. We figured out a way to get downtown and headed that way to catch the bus. From there, we transferred to a train to cross the Harbour Bridge and were able to see the Sydney Opera House lit in green from the train. I captured it going both ways on the train. We headed back to the hotel at this point. We didn't see a whole lot of Saint Patrick's Day celebrating except for one guy passed out on a bench at the Mascot transit station. I wish I had been prepared to capture that on video.
https://youtu.be/0bABBHk2VK4
On Saturday March 18th, 2023, we decided we would do at least something that would require a ferry ride. Ferry transit was included on the OPAL card so we made a plan to cross the harbor to North Sydney and see a couple more Atlas Obscura sites before heading over to Darling Harbour for the fireworks. We also decided to stop at a souvenir shop near the Circular Quay transit station to see about their jerky availability. Before leaving the hotel though, I went to check in for our flights on Air Asia only to find there were additional charges at this point that were not part of our initial booking. It caused a slight issue with my credit card at PNC Bank as it looked suspicious I suppose, even though I did give notice of our travel plans. I ended up picking the wrong option which would have locked my card so I had to communicate with PNC Bank through a chat since I hadn't activated the cell service. Thankfully, I did get it resolved with no further issues. Once we got off the train, we saw decor regarding the Saint Patrick's holiday but we didn't see much of anything going on other than crowded bars. We stopped at the McDonald's again to see if there was a Shamrock Shake but there was not. We then went into Australia The Gift souvenir store but decided against buying the jerky that they were selling and hoped maybe in the airport we could find a better deal. Elphie also realized at this point that she had promised to get a souvenir tile for her friend Kathleen. As we exited the souvenir shop, a Naked Bike Ride rolled passed the area. We then went to the wharfs to board the ferry and figured out where we needed to be. We just missed the opportunity to board so we had to wait for the next one. I captured some footage of the Sydney Opera House and as one of the ferries pulled in and the people unloaded. I also captured footage of the voyage over to the Luna Park station. My iPhone camera kept focusing on the dirty window rather than the scenery. Once we landed at Luna Park, I captured a shot of the Luna Park entrance and another shot of the Sydney Opera House. We began to walk toward a park where Wendy's Secret Garden was located. As we walked, we passed a construction zone around the Olympic pool with a notice to not post bills. We also passed a sign to welcome folks into either North Sydney or Luna Park dependent on which way one is traveling. Elphie needed to use the restroom and the nearby businesses weren't open but there was an interesting futuristic looking public toilet in a nearby park that she utilized. We continued on our way, capturing a shot of the Harbour Bridge, then entered into Clark Park in search of Wendy's Secret Garden. We walked into an overgrown area that had a path winding down the hill which was indeed Wendy's Secret Garden. It was an interesting spot to visit and pretty cool. We encountered turkeys in the garden! They are brushturkeys and apparently not that closely related to the American turkey even though they did look quite similar to me. We also encountered a philosophical lecture taking place in one of the gathering spots and wedding photos in another. We walked around it for a bit then as we left, we found the house of the Wendy who created the garden and her husband who was an artist. We walked from Wendy's Secret Garden through North Sydney passing the Christ Church and continued into Waverton Park, possibly taking a more difficult route than was necessary. Waverton Park was apparently a BP oil refinery not too many years ago prior to revitalization of the area away from industry. We arrived at the nearby Coal Loader which also is an area being revitalized toward sustainability from industry. It was here that we found the Aboriginal carving of a whale. It wasn't easy to decipher. It had been found while someone was excavating the area and there is an attempt to preserve it. We ate some sandwiches for lunch while here then made our way back toward the harbor, hoping for a less hilly route. We still had to climb some hills though and I captured some cockatoos on an electric line where the trains roll through. We had a plan to get to where we needed to go but took a break to catch our breath when some locals, in an attempt to be kind, redirected us somewhat. We ended up following their directions to not look rude however I think we could have gotten where we were going if we continued as I had planned. We ended up encountering another nice and chatty local. We got back down to the harbor and I captured some footage of the Harbour Bridge, some folks climbing it, and the city skyline. We continued to the pier to catch a ferry into Darling Harbour which we boarded just as the sun began to set. As we rode the ferry, I captured footage of the city. When we arrived at Darling Harbour, I tried to figure out the logistics of the firework show. I thought I read it would be a half hour show! We figured basically where the fireworks should be for viewing and then went to find some food. We passed some street performer playing drums and another one was waiting his turn with a chainsaw. We decided to eat at Planar where I ordered Kangaroo and Elphie got Duck Ravioli. There was a robot busser that would roll through sometimes to be loaded with plates to take back to be washed. The food was great! We then left to find a spot to sit and watch the fireworks. The firework show only ended up being five minutes long! It was a good show but short. Many of the other people immediately left the area...I guess trying to beat the traffic. We took a casual walk around the harbor to the other side then made our way to a transit station. As we walked, we saw a guy riding a motorcycle with a dog sitting on the back! We rode the train back around to Circular Quay and got gelato at Gelatissmo for a snack at the end of the night before returning to Meriton Suites so we could begin packing up for our flight to New Zealand. We utilized the laundry facilities in our suite! We enjoyed our time in Australia and managed to use up nearly all the Australian money we had brought!
I woke up around 10am on Wednesday March 15th, 2023 to watch a stream the Penguins Tuesday hockey game. I was able to catch a couple of the games during our time in Australia. After watching the game and getting ready, Elphie and I decided to have a beach day! We started out heading to one that had a plane spotting location. On the way to catch the bus, we passed Elphick Street! We had a bit of a walk from the closest bus station to the beach. We had to pass through Sir Joseph Banks Park and I think we took the longer route around the pond to get where we could cross a highway and finally get to Foreshore Beach. It was next to an industrial park or loading dock as well as the Sydney International Airport. As we approached, there were signs warning to not swim within three days of rain due to pollution runoff. We walked to the Mill Stream Lookout and captured a few planes taking off and a couple landing. We were to the side of the runway...I had hoped we'd be where the planes would be able to take off or land directly overhead as I have seen videos of happening on the internet. Nonetheless, it was sort of cool to capture take offs and landings from quite close! We had a crow with a strange voice visit us as well while on the lookout platform. I decided to get in the water, despite the warning signs, and tried out the GoPro that Skot Shaw had allowed me to borrow. The water wasn't particularly clear. I shot a couple of the take offs from the water as well just for fun. We left Foreshore Beach and found a quicker route around the pond in the park to get to the bus stop. We took three busses to get near the Clovelly Beach. We stopped to have our first Fish and Chips at Out Of The Blue before proceeding to the beach. We sat and ate the Fish and Chips just outside the restaurant with a roundabout intersection right next to us. It was interesting to watch the traffic at this busy intersection! The Fish and Chips were good...fairly salty but definitely better than I had anticipated. I guess my mindset was the equivalent to fish sticks and it couldn't be further from that garbage! ha! We decided to take the bus down the hill to Clovelly Beach. It was a narrow cove with sand on one end and the surf out the other end at the ocean. It also had a pool next to the water which I assume also was filled with sea water. We crossed around the sandy beach and set up on the rocks on the north side of the cove. Elphie hung out there and I went in the water by way of a small staircase with the GoPro. I was able to capture some footage of fish and the sea floor though trying to actually film steady was difficult with the waves pushing me around. I apologize for any sea sickness to occur to anyone who watches this section! I spend a little time in the water then we made our way to the Waverley Cemetery which sits between Clovelly and Bronte Beaches along the sea! It is an old cemetery and there is a walkway attached to the cliffside over the ocean We didn't explore too much in the cemetery as it was somewhat overgrown. There was a magpie on one of the stones and another walking through a pathway in the cemetery. I captured the sea motion a bit as well while in this area. As we walked to the cemetery, we passed a rugby practice as well as a bowling club. We proceeded to Bronte Beach which also had a bath. I decided to get in the bath and see what that was like. There were also surfers at this beach and I was able to capture some footage of the surfing. The sun was setting while we were at this beach and the bats came out. I captured a few shots of those bats as we waited on a bus to get to Centennial Parklands where our research indicated that the bats were now residing. Unfortunately, we were unable to get there before dark and the darkness of the park made Elphie a bit nervous so we hustled our way through the park to catch a ride on the tram to the central station in Sydney and we could get back to our hotel. We did capture footage of gargoyles at the entrance to the park and while I didn't get to capture any of it, we could hear the bats and sometimes see them swoop near us. As we made our way to the transit center, we passed a couple stadiums. I ended up developing a case of turf toe as well, possibly from hustling through Centennial Parklands. It was an inconvenience throughout the rest of the trip and even beyond once back home.
On Thursday March 16th, 2023, it was forecasted to be a scorcher! We decided to partake in the Meriton Suites pool during the early afternoon then head out as it began to cool off. I took the GoPro with me in the pool and played around with it in that controlled environment. I let it sink to the bottom and found that it would sink lens first every time. I also took it into the sauna room and the spa tub for the fun of it. When we ventured out later in the day, we headed to the Sydney Olympic village out on the edge of town. It has a special train just to get there. I noticed that we passed the Rookwood Cemetery which is the largest in the southern hemisphere! We saw a few of the stadiums then began to walk toward where some shipwrecks sit in the water. I'm not sure I would necessarily describe them as shipwrecked but they were left to rot. Some of them, such as the S.S. Ayrfield, had Badu Mangroves growing out of them! Getting to the shipwrecks meant walking something of a nature trail. We passed an interesting mound called the Bay Marker. Elphie wasn't particularly happy with this walk as there were bugs and spiderwebs about but we made it! I was able to touch a couple of the ship wreckages as well as the mangrove trees. We made it shortly before sunset then made our way back to the Olympic village transit station. As we made our way back in probably a bit more direct route, we passed a structure called a Brickpit Ring Walk and I captured a shot of a couple stadiums. I wish we had realized where the Olympic Cauldron was but we ended up missing that due in part to finding a bus arriving that we could take to get to North Strathfield for our dinner at Outback Steakhouse! Elphie thought it would be funny to go there while visiting Australia so we did...and she ordered a Bloomin' Onion! They brought out two because they were out of the regular large onions. Elphie was disappointed. We walked around a bit in North Strathfield after finishing our meal at Outback Steakhouse then caught a train back into Sydney. I suggested taking a short walk once we got to the Central station so we could see the Mortuary Station. As we walked, we found a fairly busy area of the city at least later at night. We also found the Charles Darwin University. We made our way to the Mortuary Station and captured some dark footage of that before heading back toward Charles Darwin University and the Central Transit hub. I also captured footage of a another interesting building on a corner near the Mortuary Station. We checked out the busyness going on near the Central Transit hub...there was a McDonald's (but no Shamrock Shake) and a Taco Bell (but no Baja Blast or any Mountain Dew) along with a few other restaurants. I captured some footage of a guy on his skateboard and the corridor through the Central Station as we made our way to the proper track to head back to the hotel.
https://youtu.be/R_Hlzrd4_1k
Friday March 17th, 2023 was Saint Patrick's Day and in our research we found that the Sydney Opera House would be lit in green that night so one of the things we planned was to try to get somewhere that we would be able to see it. We started the day by going to Lillipad Café which served Aboriginal food. We picked a sampler plater. It was really good food! We found out about the Lillipad Café through Atlas Obscura. After we finished up our meal, we decided to go check out Chinatown. There was a weird tree sculpture that we passed that had gold tongues on it and dripped water into a puddle called the Golden Mouth. We saw that there was a Paddy's Market and decided to check it out. While walking there, we heard a busker playing "Hallelujah." Inside the market, we ended up buying most of the souvenirs we would need. There was a fresh fruit and meat section as well as other oddities besides Australian souvenirs. We walked through pretty much all of it and then decided to head back to the Meriton Suites so we didn't have to carry all the souvenirs for the rest of the day. We were quite close to the Central transit hub so we caught a train back to Mascot to deliver our goods. As we approached Central Station, we found a tree full of noisy cockatoos! We made one other stop at a corner store because we were not finding any jerky which we hoped to buy. After dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we decided to head out to the Newtown part of Sydney where there had been advertised a "Full Moon Fire Jam." Strangely, we had not seen the moon at all so far while in Australia. We caught a couple of busses then we got off on the edge of Newtown and decided to walk the main drag. This was the first area of the city where we saw considerable graffiti and other urban art. It was definitely a busy area and seemed to have a night life as well. There were a few badly dilapidated buildings as well. We also found Gould's Book Arcade as we passed by. We captured some footage of the neighborhood as we walked and then made our way to the park where this fire jam was meant to be taking place. We found a group of folks partaking in wine and a few bats as well...I even captured a couple on video! We walked around the entirety of the park and as we were about ready to give up, Elphie asked a few folks walking by if they knew anything about the fire jam. One guy spoke up that he was also looking for it. He had a unicycle and a variety of fun circus like items to use including such that one would use at a fire jam. It turned out he was the only other one looking for the event. I eventually found a wifi signal and based on the information I had, it seemed that the fire jam had been postponed to the next week or the week after that. The guy ended up showing Elphie a few things with a set of rings that looked like eights. She got something of a hang of it. I captured that on video as well as some of the tricks that the guy was doing and some more bats. We hung out for probably an hour there before going our separate ways. We figured out a way to get downtown and headed that way to catch the bus. From there, we transferred to a train to cross the Harbour Bridge and were able to see the Sydney Opera House lit in green from the train. I captured it going both ways on the train. We headed back to the hotel at this point. We didn't see a whole lot of Saint Patrick's Day celebrating except for one guy passed out on a bench at the Mascot transit station. I wish I had been prepared to capture that on video.
https://youtu.be/0bABBHk2VK4
On Saturday March 18th, 2023, we decided we would do at least something that would require a ferry ride. Ferry transit was included on the OPAL card so we made a plan to cross the harbor to North Sydney and see a couple more Atlas Obscura sites before heading over to Darling Harbour for the fireworks. We also decided to stop at a souvenir shop near the Circular Quay transit station to see about their jerky availability. Before leaving the hotel though, I went to check in for our flights on Air Asia only to find there were additional charges at this point that were not part of our initial booking. It caused a slight issue with my credit card at PNC Bank as it looked suspicious I suppose, even though I did give notice of our travel plans. I ended up picking the wrong option which would have locked my card so I had to communicate with PNC Bank through a chat since I hadn't activated the cell service. Thankfully, I did get it resolved with no further issues. Once we got off the train, we saw decor regarding the Saint Patrick's holiday but we didn't see much of anything going on other than crowded bars. We stopped at the McDonald's again to see if there was a Shamrock Shake but there was not. We then went into Australia The Gift souvenir store but decided against buying the jerky that they were selling and hoped maybe in the airport we could find a better deal. Elphie also realized at this point that she had promised to get a souvenir tile for her friend Kathleen. As we exited the souvenir shop, a Naked Bike Ride rolled passed the area. We then went to the wharfs to board the ferry and figured out where we needed to be. We just missed the opportunity to board so we had to wait for the next one. I captured some footage of the Sydney Opera House and as one of the ferries pulled in and the people unloaded. I also captured footage of the voyage over to the Luna Park station. My iPhone camera kept focusing on the dirty window rather than the scenery. Once we landed at Luna Park, I captured a shot of the Luna Park entrance and another shot of the Sydney Opera House. We began to walk toward a park where Wendy's Secret Garden was located. As we walked, we passed a construction zone around the Olympic pool with a notice to not post bills. We also passed a sign to welcome folks into either North Sydney or Luna Park dependent on which way one is traveling. Elphie needed to use the restroom and the nearby businesses weren't open but there was an interesting futuristic looking public toilet in a nearby park that she utilized. We continued on our way, capturing a shot of the Harbour Bridge, then entered into Clark Park in search of Wendy's Secret Garden. We walked into an overgrown area that had a path winding down the hill which was indeed Wendy's Secret Garden. It was an interesting spot to visit and pretty cool. We encountered turkeys in the garden! They are brushturkeys and apparently not that closely related to the American turkey even though they did look quite similar to me. We also encountered a philosophical lecture taking place in one of the gathering spots and wedding photos in another. We walked around it for a bit then as we left, we found the house of the Wendy who created the garden and her husband who was an artist. We walked from Wendy's Secret Garden through North Sydney passing the Christ Church and continued into Waverton Park, possibly taking a more difficult route than was necessary. Waverton Park was apparently a BP oil refinery not too many years ago prior to revitalization of the area away from industry. We arrived at the nearby Coal Loader which also is an area being revitalized toward sustainability from industry. It was here that we found the Aboriginal carving of a whale. It wasn't easy to decipher. It had been found while someone was excavating the area and there is an attempt to preserve it. We ate some sandwiches for lunch while here then made our way back toward the harbor, hoping for a less hilly route. We still had to climb some hills though and I captured some cockatoos on an electric line where the trains roll through. We had a plan to get to where we needed to go but took a break to catch our breath when some locals, in an attempt to be kind, redirected us somewhat. We ended up following their directions to not look rude however I think we could have gotten where we were going if we continued as I had planned. We ended up encountering another nice and chatty local. We got back down to the harbor and I captured some footage of the Harbour Bridge, some folks climbing it, and the city skyline. We continued to the pier to catch a ferry into Darling Harbour which we boarded just as the sun began to set. As we rode the ferry, I captured footage of the city. When we arrived at Darling Harbour, I tried to figure out the logistics of the firework show. I thought I read it would be a half hour show! We figured basically where the fireworks should be for viewing and then went to find some food. We passed some street performer playing drums and another one was waiting his turn with a chainsaw. We decided to eat at Planar where I ordered Kangaroo and Elphie got Duck Ravioli. There was a robot busser that would roll through sometimes to be loaded with plates to take back to be washed. The food was great! We then left to find a spot to sit and watch the fireworks. The firework show only ended up being five minutes long! It was a good show but short. Many of the other people immediately left the area...I guess trying to beat the traffic. We took a casual walk around the harbor to the other side then made our way to a transit station. As we walked, we saw a guy riding a motorcycle with a dog sitting on the back! We rode the train back around to Circular Quay and got gelato at Gelatissmo for a snack at the end of the night before returning to Meriton Suites so we could begin packing up for our flight to New Zealand. We utilized the laundry facilities in our suite! We enjoyed our time in Australia and managed to use up nearly all the Australian money we had brought!
Traveling to New Zealand (03.19.2023)
https://youtu.be/9v5OhqSjc7o
On Sunday March 19th, 2023, we loaded up, left Meriton Suites where we had a nice stay, and headed to the Mascot station to ride over to the airport. It turned out this was the day of Saint Patrick's celebrations in Sydney! We arrived at Sydney International Airport and Elphie found someone to pass off our OPAL cards to that could use them. Once we passed through the security screening processes, we went to the Duty Free store to see about using up most of the rest of our Australian money. There were some packages of jerky so we bought those. We also bought meals for ourself at SumoSalad before boarding the flight. With the remaining little bit we had left, I bought a couple packages of gummy's and a Coke. We were left with two dollars and some change which we gave to other tourists who like to collect coins apparently. We would run into the again in Auckland at the Weta Workshop Unleashed! We boarded our Air Asia flight. It was a little chaotic as the announcements were hard to hear and some people just seemed to go where ever whenever. I wasn't too worried about it as we all had assigned seats we had to pick before hand. I'm not entirely sure I'd like to fly with Air Asia again though. Once loaded onto the plane, we saw them load luggage in large metal containers which was interesting. We took a long taxi before taking off which was the opposite direction than how planes were taking off and landing while we watched from Foreshore Beach. I captured the take off and while we were in the air, I captured another plane flying parallel to us...though appearing to be faster. I also was able to capture the vapor trail below my window. As we approached New Zealand, I captured footage of the shorelines and islands as well as our landing back at Auckland International Airport. We got through the first part of the security screening and got our luggage quite quickly so I thought we would get out fast...we then encountered a group of long lines. We also ended up in the wrong one so we cut over to the proper one eventually. It was all for the customs part to determine if we were declaring anything we were bringing into the country. There was also a dog to sniff our stuff. Thankfully, we got through that without issue too despite it taking a very long time. Over an hour I believe. Jeremy and Beth Nicholls were there waiting for us as we came out the doors! It was nice to see them again! After greetings, we went with them to their vehicle and drove to our AirBnB as the host was wanting to meet us to check in. I asked if it would be ok so that we didn't make the poor guy wait too late! We saw a few sites along the way including One Tree Hill and some damage from the recent cyclone. Once at the AirBnB, we unloaded our luggage and got a brief explanation of a few things. The toilet was in a different room than the shower which was interesting. Beth and Jeremy took us for Fish and Chips somewhat nearby at Glenn Eden Takeways and drove us around the neighborhood where we were staying called New Lynn. While we waited on the Fish and Chips, we walked around the block in Glen Eden. We took the Fish and Chips back to our AirBnB and ate there while catching up with Beth and Jeremy about life and also about Cornerstone Community Outreach. Jeremy told a bit about his work with the homeless folks in Auckland as well. We gave the things people left with us for them to the Nicholls as well as the snack foods that they were craving from Chicago. We made some plans to get together again on Tuesday as Mondays are quite busy for the Nicholls.
Auckland New Zealand (03.20.2023 - 03.30.2023)
We spent our first full day in Auckland on Monday March 20th, 2023 hanging around New Lynn. We didn't make much of a plan and figured maybe resting might be good. I captured a video tour of our AirBnB then we headed out to the nearby Lynn Mall. Elphie got a coffee while there at the Muffin Break and I found that they had free wifi in the mall! We ended up walking through the entire mall and checked out a shop called Enjoy, getting an idea of some souvenirs we could purchase from there. We continued through the rest of the mall and went out the other side where there was a cinema and a Taco Bell along with some other restaurants and a mini-golf place. Across the street was the new Krispy Kreme donut shop. Beth and Jeremy told us that the people were pretty excited about it. We went in and Elphie got something that was local to Auckland. I went with a chocolate creme style I knew I would like. After getting donuts, we decided to go to the Countdown which was the local grocery store. We picked up cereal, sandwich meat and cheese, some drinks including Coke and L & P Soda, which was local to New Zealand, and some local candy too. We brought all that back to our AirBnB, then went back out again to see about getting transit passes. In Auckland, they were called AT HOP Cards. We went to the transit station in New Lynn to buy these. We went into another nearby shop called Joyful to see about souvenir options. We looked around some more at the restaurant options before heading to what appeared could be a beach area according to the map on my iPhone. We walked a path through the neighborhood where we encountered Pukeko! They were little blue colored chickens apparently also known as swamp hens. We saw quite a few of these throughout the trip! We walked to Ken Mauder Park where there were people practicing cricket. We followed the trail around to the Whau River where I thought it looked like there could be beaches but it was more swampy type terrain. We saw another Pukeko in the water. We sat on a bench for a while here before continuing around the park. We decided to cross a small bridge over the river that had numbers printed all over it. There was also a pipeline next to the bridge. As we continued into the neighborhood, we encountered a cat and I captured some footage of the local trees. We continued back toward the business area of New Lynn and passed a House of Scotland. I captured some footage of the flags flying in New Lynn then we decided to get dinner at Himalayan Fusion. It was very good food. Elphie got some sort of curry and I got something with prawn but I can't recall what it was now. We checked out a few of the other restaurants nearby including Bakeries because they make a meat pie which is a typical New Zealand lunch food. We headed back to the AirBnB for the evening with plans to hang out with the Nicholls' the next day.
On Tuesday March 21, 2023, Beth and Jeremy were going to pick us up in the early afternoon. Unfortunately it was a rainy day. Another unfortunate aspect was that the cyclone damage still had serious effects on some areas so many things that Beth especially wanted to show us were unaccessible. We headed out to see what would be accessible and the first stop was Titirangi Beach. I think Jeremy had another plan from there but the various mud slips wouldn't allow going the way he wanted to. We passed a monument to fungus at a roundabout, stopped at a corner store where Beth bought chocolates for us to try that were from a local company called Whittaker's then we headed to Lower Nihotupu Dam. It was an interesing view with the spillway. There were birds sitting at the top and behind it was mountains. We stopped at Cornwallis Beach then we continued down the road and eventually passed the house where the Nicholls' stayed at the beginning of this chapter of life in New Zealand. From there, we continued up a hill for a bit to where one could get quite a view but the weather made it difficult to see much. We did see more evidence of the cyclone in more mud slips. We stopped at another dam called Lower Huia. There we found a nature trail that was closed due to conditions and a lot of sheep! We visited the Huia Point Lookout next after driving by Foster Bay. While at the lookout, the skies began to clear and provided a fairly significant rainbow. The conditions changed pretty quickly so I kept getting footage of the same thing but it looked a bit different each time. Elphie had originally opted to stay in the car but got out once the rain stopped. We drove again to another lookout spot called Mount Atkinson which gave a view of the city as well as another perspective of the bay. As we got ready to go, the rain started again and at this point we decided to figure out a dinner plan. We ended up deciding on a Chinese BBQ restaurant in the Mount Albert neighborhood called Tasty BBQ. As we drove there, Jeremy showed us a place where some homeless folks he's worked with got transitional housing. We all ordered good food. I decided to try a smoothie that combined Green Apple and Pineapple...it was strong on the green apple and sort of tasted like what one might thing dish soap would taste like. Back at the AirBnB, I asked the Nicholls where in the sky one might see the Southern Cross. Beth quickly pointed it out...it was in the southern part of the sky as one might figure out! ha! I tried to capture it on video along with getting some decent pictures of it. I also captured a clip of an airplane passing overhead.
https://youtu.be/hiaJtw9bVjE
On Wednesday March 22nd, 2023, we decided to visit Waikumete Cemetery in nearby Glen Eden. It was a site on Atlas Obscura due in part to a memorial of the Mount Erebus Disaster where an airplane crashed in Antartica. The unidentified remains were buried at that spot. We had figured we'd take a bus or train but Jeremy offered to pick us up and drop us off. He drove us through the cemetery and then left us at the top of the hill where there were a lot of Moari gravestones. He offered to pick us up again later but we told him we'd take a bus so he didn't have to adjust his day for us. It is a very large cemetery! We walked for a few hours through the cemetery. It was quite windy so it seemed a bit cold at times. The Maori and other native folks had a lot of decoration on their graves. I got a decent shot of the Auckland skyline from one of the roads above the mausoleums. Elphie decided to do another toilet flush in one of the cemetery toilets. It appeared to flush clockwise which throws the entire experiment off! We continued our walk down the hill through some of the mausoleums then turned a corner toward a public mausoleum. The paths would connect again further down the hill. We reached a spot with a tree growing next to the road that Jeremy had told us was where he grandparents (I think) was buried and we found the stone for them. Down the hill a bit further and across the road was a very overgrown section of the cemetery. I'm not sure why it was so overgrown. We walked through it somewhat as we continued through the cemetery. As we continued, we found ourselves near the front of the cemetery. I checked Atlas Obscura to see where the Mount Erebus Disaster memorial might be and figured it was somewhere around the building at the entrance. We did find it after going around the building as well as a tree dedicated to the memory of the Japanese folks who were on board that plane. Elphie was interested in seeing the children's section so we made our way toward the sign that pointed the direction, passing a few more unique grave sites. We also passed a small temple to Lord Harish Chandra Kovil with a little idol inside. It was interesting. We continued and found not one but two sections for infant and children who passed. In between we encountered a Jewish section with a memorial for the Holocaust. There were rocks on the gravestones similar to what is shown at the end of Shindler's List. After checking out the second children section, we decided to start making our way out of the cemetery. We probably only saw about half the cemetery during our walk, however, there were parts we saw while riding with in Jeremy in the other half so I suppose we did somewhat see it all. We decided to get food across the street at Pizza Club and were given a complimentary dessert! We ended up eating it sitting in a laundromat next door. We took a bus back to the AirBnB and relaxed for the night. We watched Boy by New Zealand director Taika Waititi on Netflix.
https://youtu.be/WUZ7aNpPRpw
On Thursday March 23rd, 2023 we started out by going to Denny's and meeting with some friends Elphie made during a YWAM mission project many years ago. I got a Hawai'ian Burger! They gave us some Greenstone and some soaps as gifts. It was a good time meeting them for me and for Elphie to catch up. Things worked out because they had to come to Auckland to pick someone up at the airport that afternoon. We had originally planned to spend the afternoon and evening with the Nicholls' but Beth was working on a deadline for Cornerstone Community Outreach and needed to focus on that. We planned for the weekend to hang with them and decided to go into downtown Auckland and get an idea of where we needed to go for the Weta Workshop Unleashed on Friday. We also figured we'd just check out what there was around downtown. I worked out something of a route that would get us to the Symonds Street Cemetery from the Britomart train station and we boarded the train into downtown. We found that the other direction on that line ends in Swanson. I captured a shot of the Mount Eden Stadium and jail as we rode by on the train. Once at the Britomart, Elphie used the restroom and captured video of the flush there as well. We walked out of the building and I got some clips of surrounding buildings and a Moari statue. We walked up Queen Street which seemed to be the main commercial district. We stopped in a couple souvenir shops and found Swanson Street. I had no idea that name would be somewhat important in New Zealand, ha! We turned on Victoria Street and headed toward the Sky Tower. I captured a clip of Groovy Records as we walked toward the tower. We got underneath it and could see people walking on the edge! We did not witness any bungie jumping though. The Weta Workshop Unleashed was in the area of the Sky Tower and we found the entrance along with a casino. We continued down Federal Street and saw some street art as well as a cool looking old church building. In research I have found it is St. Matthew and the home of the Auckland Rainbow Community Church. This was on Wellesley and we walked down that, checking out food options as we went. Once we got back to Queen Street, we continued south toward the Symonds Street Cemetery. I captured some more footage of buildings like the Town Hall and the Sunday School Union. We also captured footage of a bar called The White House with Uncle Sam painted on the front. It turned out the walk was uphill a bit. We reached Karangahape and turned left. Crossing the street we made it to Symonds Street Cemetery. Parts of it had been demolished to build a highway, according to Atlas Obscura. The part we started in had a sign showing some buildings that had been demolished for condos. We captured a bit of footage while in the cemetery and I ended up stepping in a poop. We left the part we were in and cross the street to find more of the cemetery! This part showed how the city had taken over parts of the cemetery more clearly than the other part. Some headstones were under a bridge which was built right over top and likely displaced or destroyed some graves. It turned out to be another section too that we never made it to but we caught a bus that took us unto the highway that was built through the cemetery! Back at the AirBnB we watched another New Zealand based movie called Cousins on Netflix.
On Tuesday March 21, 2023, Beth and Jeremy were going to pick us up in the early afternoon. Unfortunately it was a rainy day. Another unfortunate aspect was that the cyclone damage still had serious effects on some areas so many things that Beth especially wanted to show us were unaccessible. We headed out to see what would be accessible and the first stop was Titirangi Beach. I think Jeremy had another plan from there but the various mud slips wouldn't allow going the way he wanted to. We passed a monument to fungus at a roundabout, stopped at a corner store where Beth bought chocolates for us to try that were from a local company called Whittaker's then we headed to Lower Nihotupu Dam. It was an interesing view with the spillway. There were birds sitting at the top and behind it was mountains. We stopped at Cornwallis Beach then we continued down the road and eventually passed the house where the Nicholls' stayed at the beginning of this chapter of life in New Zealand. From there, we continued up a hill for a bit to where one could get quite a view but the weather made it difficult to see much. We did see more evidence of the cyclone in more mud slips. We stopped at another dam called Lower Huia. There we found a nature trail that was closed due to conditions and a lot of sheep! We visited the Huia Point Lookout next after driving by Foster Bay. While at the lookout, the skies began to clear and provided a fairly significant rainbow. The conditions changed pretty quickly so I kept getting footage of the same thing but it looked a bit different each time. Elphie had originally opted to stay in the car but got out once the rain stopped. We drove again to another lookout spot called Mount Atkinson which gave a view of the city as well as another perspective of the bay. As we got ready to go, the rain started again and at this point we decided to figure out a dinner plan. We ended up deciding on a Chinese BBQ restaurant in the Mount Albert neighborhood called Tasty BBQ. As we drove there, Jeremy showed us a place where some homeless folks he's worked with got transitional housing. We all ordered good food. I decided to try a smoothie that combined Green Apple and Pineapple...it was strong on the green apple and sort of tasted like what one might thing dish soap would taste like. Back at the AirBnB, I asked the Nicholls where in the sky one might see the Southern Cross. Beth quickly pointed it out...it was in the southern part of the sky as one might figure out! ha! I tried to capture it on video along with getting some decent pictures of it. I also captured a clip of an airplane passing overhead.
https://youtu.be/hiaJtw9bVjE
On Wednesday March 22nd, 2023, we decided to visit Waikumete Cemetery in nearby Glen Eden. It was a site on Atlas Obscura due in part to a memorial of the Mount Erebus Disaster where an airplane crashed in Antartica. The unidentified remains were buried at that spot. We had figured we'd take a bus or train but Jeremy offered to pick us up and drop us off. He drove us through the cemetery and then left us at the top of the hill where there were a lot of Moari gravestones. He offered to pick us up again later but we told him we'd take a bus so he didn't have to adjust his day for us. It is a very large cemetery! We walked for a few hours through the cemetery. It was quite windy so it seemed a bit cold at times. The Maori and other native folks had a lot of decoration on their graves. I got a decent shot of the Auckland skyline from one of the roads above the mausoleums. Elphie decided to do another toilet flush in one of the cemetery toilets. It appeared to flush clockwise which throws the entire experiment off! We continued our walk down the hill through some of the mausoleums then turned a corner toward a public mausoleum. The paths would connect again further down the hill. We reached a spot with a tree growing next to the road that Jeremy had told us was where he grandparents (I think) was buried and we found the stone for them. Down the hill a bit further and across the road was a very overgrown section of the cemetery. I'm not sure why it was so overgrown. We walked through it somewhat as we continued through the cemetery. As we continued, we found ourselves near the front of the cemetery. I checked Atlas Obscura to see where the Mount Erebus Disaster memorial might be and figured it was somewhere around the building at the entrance. We did find it after going around the building as well as a tree dedicated to the memory of the Japanese folks who were on board that plane. Elphie was interested in seeing the children's section so we made our way toward the sign that pointed the direction, passing a few more unique grave sites. We also passed a small temple to Lord Harish Chandra Kovil with a little idol inside. It was interesting. We continued and found not one but two sections for infant and children who passed. In between we encountered a Jewish section with a memorial for the Holocaust. There were rocks on the gravestones similar to what is shown at the end of Shindler's List. After checking out the second children section, we decided to start making our way out of the cemetery. We probably only saw about half the cemetery during our walk, however, there were parts we saw while riding with in Jeremy in the other half so I suppose we did somewhat see it all. We decided to get food across the street at Pizza Club and were given a complimentary dessert! We ended up eating it sitting in a laundromat next door. We took a bus back to the AirBnB and relaxed for the night. We watched Boy by New Zealand director Taika Waititi on Netflix.
https://youtu.be/WUZ7aNpPRpw
On Thursday March 23rd, 2023 we started out by going to Denny's and meeting with some friends Elphie made during a YWAM mission project many years ago. I got a Hawai'ian Burger! They gave us some Greenstone and some soaps as gifts. It was a good time meeting them for me and for Elphie to catch up. Things worked out because they had to come to Auckland to pick someone up at the airport that afternoon. We had originally planned to spend the afternoon and evening with the Nicholls' but Beth was working on a deadline for Cornerstone Community Outreach and needed to focus on that. We planned for the weekend to hang with them and decided to go into downtown Auckland and get an idea of where we needed to go for the Weta Workshop Unleashed on Friday. We also figured we'd just check out what there was around downtown. I worked out something of a route that would get us to the Symonds Street Cemetery from the Britomart train station and we boarded the train into downtown. We found that the other direction on that line ends in Swanson. I captured a shot of the Mount Eden Stadium and jail as we rode by on the train. Once at the Britomart, Elphie used the restroom and captured video of the flush there as well. We walked out of the building and I got some clips of surrounding buildings and a Moari statue. We walked up Queen Street which seemed to be the main commercial district. We stopped in a couple souvenir shops and found Swanson Street. I had no idea that name would be somewhat important in New Zealand, ha! We turned on Victoria Street and headed toward the Sky Tower. I captured a clip of Groovy Records as we walked toward the tower. We got underneath it and could see people walking on the edge! We did not witness any bungie jumping though. The Weta Workshop Unleashed was in the area of the Sky Tower and we found the entrance along with a casino. We continued down Federal Street and saw some street art as well as a cool looking old church building. In research I have found it is St. Matthew and the home of the Auckland Rainbow Community Church. This was on Wellesley and we walked down that, checking out food options as we went. Once we got back to Queen Street, we continued south toward the Symonds Street Cemetery. I captured some more footage of buildings like the Town Hall and the Sunday School Union. We also captured footage of a bar called The White House with Uncle Sam painted on the front. It turned out the walk was uphill a bit. We reached Karangahape and turned left. Crossing the street we made it to Symonds Street Cemetery. Parts of it had been demolished to build a highway, according to Atlas Obscura. The part we started in had a sign showing some buildings that had been demolished for condos. We captured a bit of footage while in the cemetery and I ended up stepping in a poop. We left the part we were in and cross the street to find more of the cemetery! This part showed how the city had taken over parts of the cemetery more clearly than the other part. Some headstones were under a bridge which was built right over top and likely displaced or destroyed some graves. It turned out to be another section too that we never made it to but we caught a bus that took us unto the highway that was built through the cemetery! Back at the AirBnB we watched another New Zealand based movie called Cousins on Netflix.
On Friday March 24th, 2023 we went to the Weta Workshop Unleashed! We decided to take a bus into the city this time as it stopped closer to where we needed to go than the train would. We planned it out well enough that we got there about an hour early. We hung out outside for a while then went in and walked around the All Blacks Experience entrance and gift shop before heading up to the next level for the Weta Workshop Unleashed. There were several statues of characters from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit set up all around the gift shop. The experience itself focused on three movies in production and we were permitted to see some costumes and animatronic parts of the creatures for those movies. While I wasn't yet familiar with these movies, it was still pretty cool to see. One exhibit was a miniature of a set and we could climb through a tunnel in the bottom of it. There was a horror maze too that I guess we meant to be the inside of a lamb or something...maybe a meat locker. I'm not really sure, ha! It also turned out that the tourists we met at the Sydney International Airport were also on this tour! We talked a bit with them. They rented a car and drove around New Zealand and would be headed to Wellington the next day for the other Weta Workshop tour. There were a couple points in which cameras were meant to take our pictures but only the first one worked I decided to share that in this video. After we finished up at Weta, we took a sky bridge under the Sky Tower and through the casino. We looked down into the main floor. It was interesting to see the workers standing so still at the black jack tables where no one was playing yet. It took a minute but we found our way out to the street again and began to seek out dinner options. We walked down Queen Street toward the Britomart checking out a few places along the way then found an alley which led to a bunch of food vendors and a concert stage. We walked along the vendors finally settling on one selling Shrimp Balls. We also stopped in one of the businesses to get a dessert waffle before walking up toward where the stage area was. We found a Circle K there! We continued to walk south through the businesses on High Street for a couple of blocks to Wellesley. There was a monument fountain for Women's Suffrage along our walk. We turned right and then walked down Queen Street again to the Britomart. As we walked a religious group passed us singing songs then we passed a street preacher preaching. We arrived at the Britomart and boarded the Swansonbound train. Once back in New Lynn we walked through an alley capturing the art hanging above us before heading to the AirBnB. I ended up watching a documentary on Netflix about a tour group going to White Island and the volcano erupting while they were on the island.
https://youtu.be/J8FtxTdqTNY
On Saturday March 25th, 2023 the Nicholls' came to pick us up for a day out with them. The first stop we made ended up being in Hillsborough Cemetery where Jeremy showed us a massive mud slip. Apparently some folks he had worked with stayed near this area before the storm. We saw headstones for a convent of nuns and quite a few other interesting ones. Toward the top of the hill, we could see quite a few great views around the area of the bays and some other mountains. Jeremy pointed out where Mount Eden and One Tree Hill were from the view we had. We rode through the city to a lookout called Achilles Point to the east of Auckland. From there we could see quite a few islands including Rangitoto, Motutapu, and Motokorea (Brown Island) which is on Atlas Obscura. Apparently below us was a nudist beach and we could see a few folks partaking of that freedom. I got some footage of hte views before we moved on to try to find some lunch. We ended up at Browns St. Heliers where we got a traditional Kiwi lunch of meat pies! They were pretty good! We got there just as they were about to close so we ate on a bench just outside. We left there and headed through the city again along some waterfronts where we could see more slips and storm damage. We crossed the Auckland Harbour Bridge and continued to Orewa Beach. We walked along there for a bit, collected some shells and rocks to take back with us. I captured some footage of the view which included Great Barrier Island. When we left, we stopped at Pak n' Save to get some food for a picnic. We had the picnic at Long Bay Beach and I captured more footage of the view. While visiting the restroom, I captured a peculiar stall with two toilets! As we left, we noticed a cemetery and pulled off. It was Pioneers Cemetery and we were able to catch the sunset behind it! We walked around there for a bit then Elphie's restroom need had us stop at Waiake Beach which had some islands just off shore and cool views to capture. There was also a little dog running around! As we left from here, we drove close to the shoreline and as we approached Auckland I captured a night shot of the city. The Nicholls' dropped us off at our AirBnB for the night and we would reconvene the next day for Hangi and rugby!
On Sunday March 26th, 2023 we reconnected with the Nicholls around lunchtime and went to The Hangi Shop to try out that native food of New Zealand which also was listed on Atlas Obscura. It was a stew type meal and very good. We also got a dessert of steamed pudding. The meal was very filling and I didn't end up having a dinner! Hangi is a meal that is cooked underground using meats and root vegetables. On our way to Mount Smart Stadium to see the One NZ Warriors play rugby, Jeremy took us by a little village of tiny houses run by the organization he works for, Visionwest. It is a housing option for homeless and low income folks. Nearby was Otahuhu Cemetery. We had some time still so we checked it out before heading to the rugby game. The One NZ Warriors played against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. Our seats were in the endzone bleachers. It was a fun game and the Warriors won 16-14! As we left, one of the Nicholls' daughters found herself lost so she called. Jeremy got us back to the AirBnB and then left to find their daughter before it got too dark. I captured some clouds on the ride. We thought maybe we'd have time to play minigolf but we were just a bit too late. We went to Countdown though and got some more groceries for the week.
https://youtu.be/Eyh6LQrcb6M
On Monday March 27th, 2023 we did some exploring on our own. We started out by taking public transit to Maungawhau (Mount Eden). The directions my phone gave had us walking up through a residential area and up some steps which led to a road. We walked up the road to the edge of the volcano cone where we captured some footage and photographs. I decided to continue to walk the platform around the volcano. I stopped at an overlook of Auckland to capture some footage then continued to the other side. The summit was inaccessible as there was some work being done but I was able to capture One Tree Hill and some other scenery from that side of the volcano. I returned and Elphie and I walked around the other way as far as we were permitted before the construction zone. I captured some more footage of Auckland and the Mount Eden Stadium from a platform on that side. We walked down the hillside and through the Mount Eden neighborhood to catch a bus. It ended up being the first time riding a double decker bus. We decided to take it to Greenbay Beach. It was a pretty long ride and then we had to make a transfer and it seemed like a bit of a long wait. Unfortunately, we found that the water was marked as unsuitable for swimming. We headed back to New Lynn to our AirBnB then decided to check out the Lilliput Mini Golf near the mall. We got there with just enough time to play through a game. It was a fun and interesting course. We decided to have dinner at Goode Brothers where we got a seafood sampler platter. After the dinner I captured the moon over our AirBnB before heading in to go to bed.
https://youtu.be/MDEGLwsHhy4
On Tuesday March 28th, 2023 we planned to have another outing with the Nicholls' followed by dinner at their house but those plans were unfortunately canceled. Beth had a small accident and thankfully there were no physical injuries. Elphie and I ended up going to the Auckland Zoo instead. Jeremy told us if we were going there that we should also check out Western Springs nearby as well as the stadium where he saw U2 once. We took a bus to go to the zoo. When we got off, a trolley rollled by us. There also were several Pukeko walking around. In the zoo, we started in the African section with some giraffes, zebras, and ostrich all. in once exhibit. All the exhibits were pretty cool. When we got to where the lions stayed, they were eating and occasionally lightly roaring. We eventually got to the New Zealand section and went into the building where the kiwis stay. It was dark and the video didn't turn out so well. We got there prior to the presentation and decided we'd continue on rather than wait for it. Outside of the building with the kiwis were some eels that looked ready to eat us! As we continued, we got where the penguins stay and they scurried into hiding first under a boat then into the indoors part of their habitat. In the Southeast Asia section there were habitats for a couple different apes which I didn't get a good clip of but the habitat was interesting in that the apes could climb and swing overhead of the people! Further along where the tigers stay they also could go overhead of the people on a bridge. One was sitting on the bridge roaring as people were under it and around it taking pictures! Elphie was nervous about going through with the tiger on that bridge but eventually she decided to go...just as the tiger stood up, walked across the bridge over to where a viewing window into the habitat is and pooped. After pooping, it ran back across the bridge and out of sight, ha! We continued into other areas including the Australia section where we tried to see the Tasmanian Devil but it hid under some rocks. A bird flew by buzzing Elphie's head in this section as well. We then entered the American section where both crocodiles and alligators were sunning. While in this section, the announcement for the zoo closing began so we had to hurry out. Once out of the zoo, we encountered more pukeko, pigeons, and some wild chickens. We decided to walk the path around Western Springs and encountered all sorts of birds including geese, ducks, and black swans. I had never seen a black swan before and didn't even know they were a real thing! We continued around the spring and came across some more storm damage with some large trees knocked down. We didn't see the stadium that Jeremy was talking about though. At this point, we felt it was time to find dinner. We walked along the nearby businesses. Elphie didn't want fish and chips again so we looked for something different and settled on Burger Fuel. It was pretty good! I got a chocolate thickshake and a Bacon BBQ Roaster. When we got back to the AirBnB, I attempted a TamTam slam. This is sucking hot chocolate through a Tam Tam by biting off the ends. It didn't really work out as it was meant to.
https://youtu.be/eHOlo6CmOwE
On Wednesday March 29th, 2023 we took a tour to Hobbiton. We booked this tour while still in Chicago through Viator. We had to get into Auckland early in the morning to catch the ride with Cheeky Kiwi at one of the hotels by the Britomart transit station. Elphie went to use the restroom and the van pulled up a couple minutes later. As I waited for Elphie, the driver began to search for us, asking other folks if they were on the tour...which seemed to confuse them. I let him know it was us he was looking for and Elphie came out right then too so we loaded up and took the ride around Auckland as passengers were picked up at various locations. He was a friendly driver what a lot to say but unfortunately his microphone didn't work. He also told us he had cleaned out a different vehicle he intended on using but the company switched on him overnight. As we made our way out of Auckland to Hobbiton, we passed some interesting scenery. As we got closer to Hobbiton, we saw a lot of sheep! At Hobbiton, we had some time before our tour so we got meat pies for lunch at the gift shop. The tour was the set which was preserved after the filming of The Hobbit. They had torn it down after The Lord Of The Rings but turned it into a tourist attraction after The Hobbit. It is mostly just exteriors with one Hobbit hole set up that you can go just inside the door. It's probably no more than a few feet deep. It was cool to see and walk through all this though. At the end of the tour, we were provided a complimentary drink at The Green Dragon. It sounded in the information we were given that there would be a special Green Dragon drink but the options were a stout beer, a cider, and a soda for the underage or non alcohol consumers. On the ride back, others took our back row which was fine by us. There wasn't much leg room there! We saw a waterfall in the mountains in the distance. We could hear the driver's commentary better as well. We stopped for some ice cream on the trip back as well. Back in Auckland, we decided to ride the train line to the end in Swanson. Elphie was sure to document my ride to Swanson, ha! There wasn't much there, it appeared on the maps that there may be a nearby cemetery but it was dark when we arrived. We found a pizza shop at a gas station so we got some Picollo Pizza. It was ok. We then rode the train back to New Lynn. Another passenger had missed her stop so she was nervously chatting about it trying to make sure she got where she was going.
On Monday March 27th, 2023 we did some exploring on our own. We started out by taking public transit to Maungawhau (Mount Eden). The directions my phone gave had us walking up through a residential area and up some steps which led to a road. We walked up the road to the edge of the volcano cone where we captured some footage and photographs. I decided to continue to walk the platform around the volcano. I stopped at an overlook of Auckland to capture some footage then continued to the other side. The summit was inaccessible as there was some work being done but I was able to capture One Tree Hill and some other scenery from that side of the volcano. I returned and Elphie and I walked around the other way as far as we were permitted before the construction zone. I captured some more footage of Auckland and the Mount Eden Stadium from a platform on that side. We walked down the hillside and through the Mount Eden neighborhood to catch a bus. It ended up being the first time riding a double decker bus. We decided to take it to Greenbay Beach. It was a pretty long ride and then we had to make a transfer and it seemed like a bit of a long wait. Unfortunately, we found that the water was marked as unsuitable for swimming. We headed back to New Lynn to our AirBnB then decided to check out the Lilliput Mini Golf near the mall. We got there with just enough time to play through a game. It was a fun and interesting course. We decided to have dinner at Goode Brothers where we got a seafood sampler platter. After the dinner I captured the moon over our AirBnB before heading in to go to bed.
https://youtu.be/MDEGLwsHhy4
On Tuesday March 28th, 2023 we planned to have another outing with the Nicholls' followed by dinner at their house but those plans were unfortunately canceled. Beth had a small accident and thankfully there were no physical injuries. Elphie and I ended up going to the Auckland Zoo instead. Jeremy told us if we were going there that we should also check out Western Springs nearby as well as the stadium where he saw U2 once. We took a bus to go to the zoo. When we got off, a trolley rollled by us. There also were several Pukeko walking around. In the zoo, we started in the African section with some giraffes, zebras, and ostrich all. in once exhibit. All the exhibits were pretty cool. When we got to where the lions stayed, they were eating and occasionally lightly roaring. We eventually got to the New Zealand section and went into the building where the kiwis stay. It was dark and the video didn't turn out so well. We got there prior to the presentation and decided we'd continue on rather than wait for it. Outside of the building with the kiwis were some eels that looked ready to eat us! As we continued, we got where the penguins stay and they scurried into hiding first under a boat then into the indoors part of their habitat. In the Southeast Asia section there were habitats for a couple different apes which I didn't get a good clip of but the habitat was interesting in that the apes could climb and swing overhead of the people! Further along where the tigers stay they also could go overhead of the people on a bridge. One was sitting on the bridge roaring as people were under it and around it taking pictures! Elphie was nervous about going through with the tiger on that bridge but eventually she decided to go...just as the tiger stood up, walked across the bridge over to where a viewing window into the habitat is and pooped. After pooping, it ran back across the bridge and out of sight, ha! We continued into other areas including the Australia section where we tried to see the Tasmanian Devil but it hid under some rocks. A bird flew by buzzing Elphie's head in this section as well. We then entered the American section where both crocodiles and alligators were sunning. While in this section, the announcement for the zoo closing began so we had to hurry out. Once out of the zoo, we encountered more pukeko, pigeons, and some wild chickens. We decided to walk the path around Western Springs and encountered all sorts of birds including geese, ducks, and black swans. I had never seen a black swan before and didn't even know they were a real thing! We continued around the spring and came across some more storm damage with some large trees knocked down. We didn't see the stadium that Jeremy was talking about though. At this point, we felt it was time to find dinner. We walked along the nearby businesses. Elphie didn't want fish and chips again so we looked for something different and settled on Burger Fuel. It was pretty good! I got a chocolate thickshake and a Bacon BBQ Roaster. When we got back to the AirBnB, I attempted a TamTam slam. This is sucking hot chocolate through a Tam Tam by biting off the ends. It didn't really work out as it was meant to.
https://youtu.be/eHOlo6CmOwE
On Wednesday March 29th, 2023 we took a tour to Hobbiton. We booked this tour while still in Chicago through Viator. We had to get into Auckland early in the morning to catch the ride with Cheeky Kiwi at one of the hotels by the Britomart transit station. Elphie went to use the restroom and the van pulled up a couple minutes later. As I waited for Elphie, the driver began to search for us, asking other folks if they were on the tour...which seemed to confuse them. I let him know it was us he was looking for and Elphie came out right then too so we loaded up and took the ride around Auckland as passengers were picked up at various locations. He was a friendly driver what a lot to say but unfortunately his microphone didn't work. He also told us he had cleaned out a different vehicle he intended on using but the company switched on him overnight. As we made our way out of Auckland to Hobbiton, we passed some interesting scenery. As we got closer to Hobbiton, we saw a lot of sheep! At Hobbiton, we had some time before our tour so we got meat pies for lunch at the gift shop. The tour was the set which was preserved after the filming of The Hobbit. They had torn it down after The Lord Of The Rings but turned it into a tourist attraction after The Hobbit. It is mostly just exteriors with one Hobbit hole set up that you can go just inside the door. It's probably no more than a few feet deep. It was cool to see and walk through all this though. At the end of the tour, we were provided a complimentary drink at The Green Dragon. It sounded in the information we were given that there would be a special Green Dragon drink but the options were a stout beer, a cider, and a soda for the underage or non alcohol consumers. On the ride back, others took our back row which was fine by us. There wasn't much leg room there! We saw a waterfall in the mountains in the distance. We could hear the driver's commentary better as well. We stopped for some ice cream on the trip back as well. Back in Auckland, we decided to ride the train line to the end in Swanson. Elphie was sure to document my ride to Swanson, ha! There wasn't much there, it appeared on the maps that there may be a nearby cemetery but it was dark when we arrived. We found a pizza shop at a gas station so we got some Picollo Pizza. It was ok. We then rode the train back to New Lynn. Another passenger had missed her stop so she was nervously chatting about it trying to make sure she got where she was going.
https://youtu.be/j03bEE2ZroY
Thursday March 30th, 2023, we had delayed plans to meet with the Nicholls' at their home for dinner. This was moved back from Tuesday due to the car accident. As we waited for Jeremy to pick us up, we went to visit the Greenstone souvenir shop to see if we could find things to bring back to people. We didn't find anything we wanted to get there so we went back to the Lynn Mall and hit Enjoy again to pick up most of the souvenirs we wanted to bring home. We also stopped at Countdown one last time to get a few things. I decided to pick up some chocolate fish since it was listed as a food item on Atlas Obscura that one should try while in New Zealand. We ate them back at the AirBnB and they were very good...much like Easter candy. They were shaped like fish with raspberry flavored marshmallow filling. I also learned through Atlas Obscura that leftover chocolate was used in another snack item of pineapple chocolate bites. We decided at this point since we had a little more time to check out The Warehouse. Jeremy described it as an equivalent to Wal*Mart in the U.S.A. We did not find anything that would work as souvenirs while there. When Jeremy came to pick us up, I asked him if there was anywhere convenient to stop for a few last minute souvenirs like post cards. He did take us to a place but we went to the post office next door and found what we were looking for in post cards. We then proceeded to their house where we found lots of ducks! While dinner was getting prepared, Jeremy took Elphie and I to see where he works. He continues to do service with homeless folks with an organization called Visionwest. They are in the process of moving to new offices but he gave a rundown of the various services done in the buildings at the location. Jeremy grilled steaks and Beth and Muriwai made a dessert called Pavlova and it was awesome! The entire meal was great! We then watched Hunt For The Wilderpeople which was a movie filmed in New Zealand by a native born movie maker named Taika Waititi. Jeremy took us back to the AirBnB after the movie and I got a night shot of Auckland as we drove. We organized our stuff to pack for leaving in the morning from the AirBnB to head back to the Nicholls' house until it was time to head to the airport.
Thursday March 30th, 2023, we had delayed plans to meet with the Nicholls' at their home for dinner. This was moved back from Tuesday due to the car accident. As we waited for Jeremy to pick us up, we went to visit the Greenstone souvenir shop to see if we could find things to bring back to people. We didn't find anything we wanted to get there so we went back to the Lynn Mall and hit Enjoy again to pick up most of the souvenirs we wanted to bring home. We also stopped at Countdown one last time to get a few things. I decided to pick up some chocolate fish since it was listed as a food item on Atlas Obscura that one should try while in New Zealand. We ate them back at the AirBnB and they were very good...much like Easter candy. They were shaped like fish with raspberry flavored marshmallow filling. I also learned through Atlas Obscura that leftover chocolate was used in another snack item of pineapple chocolate bites. We decided at this point since we had a little more time to check out The Warehouse. Jeremy described it as an equivalent to Wal*Mart in the U.S.A. We did not find anything that would work as souvenirs while there. When Jeremy came to pick us up, I asked him if there was anywhere convenient to stop for a few last minute souvenirs like post cards. He did take us to a place but we went to the post office next door and found what we were looking for in post cards. We then proceeded to their house where we found lots of ducks! While dinner was getting prepared, Jeremy took Elphie and I to see where he works. He continues to do service with homeless folks with an organization called Visionwest. They are in the process of moving to new offices but he gave a rundown of the various services done in the buildings at the location. Jeremy grilled steaks and Beth and Muriwai made a dessert called Pavlova and it was awesome! The entire meal was great! We then watched Hunt For The Wilderpeople which was a movie filmed in New Zealand by a native born movie maker named Taika Waititi. Jeremy took us back to the AirBnB after the movie and I got a night shot of Auckland as we drove. We organized our stuff to pack for leaving in the morning from the AirBnB to head back to the Nicholls' house until it was time to head to the airport.
Traveling to Chicago (03.31.2023)
On Friday March 31st, 2023, we woke up and packed up at our AirBnB. We were meant to check out at 11am and the host was there to mow the lawn...he may have held off to not disturb our stay which was very nice of him. Jeremy was working in the morning and it was determined he would pick us up at the nearby Lynn Mall. We first checked on the McDonald's but it didn't seem to have wifi. After our first visit to the mall, we found it had free wifi so that's where we went to wait and we chose the food court to be where we would hang out. I kept tabs on the Penguins hockey game as we waited Again, I was unable to access the actual game through the streaming sites I usually use. Jeremy came by to get us and then drove us to his parents house so he could borrow their vehicle. During the trip, we saw some more of the storm damage with the road having caved in due to a slip. Jeremy took us back to their house and we hung out there for a bit until it was time to head to the airport. It was nice getting to hang out with the Nicholls while there though unfortunate that the car accident derailed a few plans. We're grateful that there was no injury and for the most part everything was ok. We very much appreciated their willingness to take us around to see things and get us from the airport and back for our flight home! While we were there, we tried a fruit that wasn't particularly pleasant before leaving. Thankfully, it was not the Noni. If you check the link, you may see why, ha! It was called a feijoa.
Once in Auckland International Airport, we got our bags tagged, weighed, our tickets printed out at the kiosk for Air New Zealand, and proceeded through the security screening process to return home. We got through all that with minimal issue though my backpack was checked out by security for some reason. We got a meal at Vantage Bar. I got a burger and Elphie got a salad. While waiting on the food, I went to one of the convenience stores to purchase some Whittaker's chocolates and a bottle of L and P Soda to use up as much of the remaining Kiwi currency that we had. Once we got our meal in to-go boxes, we headed toward our gate. About halfway there, we found it blocked off with a lot of people waiting. The staff opened up the gate area and the mass of humanity made their way through, some more aggressive than others. We got through and once again had our passports scanned then sat to eat our food. We were pretty much the end of the line of gates! We had a couple of hours to wait so we finished our meals. It turned out to be a packed flight and this time, our row did have all three seats at the back of the airplane so we unfortunately had to bother the guy next to us a few times for restroom trips. Our return flight to Chicago was one very long flight using Air New Zealand directly from Auckland International Airport to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Once we were in the air, most of the time the windows were tinted so dark one couldn't really tell if it was light out. I didn't shoot much footage out of the window after take off until we got close to Chicago and it seemed we were nearing our landing. I did capture one clip of farmland though. The turbulence got pretty bad at times as we made our way through thunderstorms. I saw one bright flash of lightning and hoped to capture some of it as we made our descent but apparently there was no more lightning. We approached Chicago over Lake Michigan, apparently having flown by and turned around, possibly due to the storms. After landing, I captured one lightning strike beyond the airplane that was sitting next to us while we were at the gate waiting to de-board the plane. Once we passed through the customs process and arrived at baggage claim, we had to wait for the storm to pass so that the tossers could collect the baggage and then send it to the carousels. Skot Shaw picked us up and as he drove us home, more weather related alerts came in. We gave the chocolates we bought to Skot to take and share with Rachel. On the ride back, I captured some footage of the city and back at the house, some footage of reuniting with Stein to finish off the project. It was a very long day as we left Auckland around 8pm on March 31st, 2023 and arrived in Chicago around 5pm on March 31st, 2023...still. We went back in time! ha! Despite this, I had some trouble falling asleep I suppose due to the time changes.
Additional soundtrack includes "Down Under" by Men At Work, "Dance Monkey" by Tones And I, "1998" by Rancid, "Leaky Tub" by The Rumjacks, "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by The Pogues, "The Fields Of Athenry" by Dropkick Murphys, "Poi E" by Patea Maori Club, "One Tree Hill" by U2, "Hey Ho To The Bottle I Go," "Fine Brew Of The Green Dragon," "Blunt The Knives," "Far Over Misty Mountain Cold," "Song Of The Lonely Mountain," and "The Lord Of The Rings Theme" from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, "How Long" by Flatfoot 56, "Window To Your Soul" by Delirium, "Promise Ring (Australian Version)" by The Lassie Foundation, "Bat Out Of Hell" by Meat Loaf, "Bat" by Leper, "Staring At A Bird" by The Waiting, "Keep Swimming" and "Keep Swimming (Ian Catt Remix)" by Soda Shop, "Ghost And The Grave" by Quiet Science, "Beneath Water" by Mike Mains And The Branches, "Like Fools They Bathed In The Pools" by Joy Electric, "There Go The Ships, Then Leviathan" by Ronnie Martin, "Shipwreck" by Covenant, "Love Is Changing Hearts" by Travelogue, "The Last Serenade (Sailers And Fishermen)" by Flogging Molly, "Urban Aire / Big Cat" by Afro Celt Sound System, "Walkabout" by The Blamed, "All Your Waves" by David Eugene Edwards, "Rainbow Signs" by mewithoutYou, "Of Nature" by Matisyahu, "Grave Digger" by Blindside, "Ghost In The Grave Yard" by Ghoti Hook, "Escaping The Grave" by Grave Robber, "Endurance" by The Crossing, "Song For Elie" by Ballydowse, "Since You Were Laid Low" by BEAST, "Ain't No Grave" by Sarah Carter, "I Lay Sleepless In My Grave" by Zao, "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish, "2 The Grave" by Middle Finger, "Grafton Street" by Dylan Rooke and Red Coal, "Grave Digger" by The Aggrolites, "Diggin' My Own Grave" by Glenn Kaiser, "Beachcomber" by Pomegranates, "Shared Graves" by SPACESHIPS, "Our Feet Like Anchors" by analecta, "Gravestones And Burial Plots" by The Transplants, "Sports" by Rodent Emporium, "Animal Kingdom" by theillogicalspoon, "Animal Woman" by Lovedrug, "Animals" by Dead Poetic, "Three Birds" by Geology, "Where The Birds Always Sing" by The Cure, "I Love You Like The Little Bird" by Starflyer 59, "I Am Not An Animal" by Ball-Peen Hammer, The Greatest Adventure" by Kevin Max, "Before The Rain" by VNV Nation, and "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door" by Underoath.
On Friday March 31st, 2023, we woke up and packed up at our AirBnB. We were meant to check out at 11am and the host was there to mow the lawn...he may have held off to not disturb our stay which was very nice of him. Jeremy was working in the morning and it was determined he would pick us up at the nearby Lynn Mall. We first checked on the McDonald's but it didn't seem to have wifi. After our first visit to the mall, we found it had free wifi so that's where we went to wait and we chose the food court to be where we would hang out. I kept tabs on the Penguins hockey game as we waited Again, I was unable to access the actual game through the streaming sites I usually use. Jeremy came by to get us and then drove us to his parents house so he could borrow their vehicle. During the trip, we saw some more of the storm damage with the road having caved in due to a slip. Jeremy took us back to their house and we hung out there for a bit until it was time to head to the airport. It was nice getting to hang out with the Nicholls while there though unfortunate that the car accident derailed a few plans. We're grateful that there was no injury and for the most part everything was ok. We very much appreciated their willingness to take us around to see things and get us from the airport and back for our flight home! While we were there, we tried a fruit that wasn't particularly pleasant before leaving. Thankfully, it was not the Noni. If you check the link, you may see why, ha! It was called a feijoa.
Once in Auckland International Airport, we got our bags tagged, weighed, our tickets printed out at the kiosk for Air New Zealand, and proceeded through the security screening process to return home. We got through all that with minimal issue though my backpack was checked out by security for some reason. We got a meal at Vantage Bar. I got a burger and Elphie got a salad. While waiting on the food, I went to one of the convenience stores to purchase some Whittaker's chocolates and a bottle of L and P Soda to use up as much of the remaining Kiwi currency that we had. Once we got our meal in to-go boxes, we headed toward our gate. About halfway there, we found it blocked off with a lot of people waiting. The staff opened up the gate area and the mass of humanity made their way through, some more aggressive than others. We got through and once again had our passports scanned then sat to eat our food. We were pretty much the end of the line of gates! We had a couple of hours to wait so we finished our meals. It turned out to be a packed flight and this time, our row did have all three seats at the back of the airplane so we unfortunately had to bother the guy next to us a few times for restroom trips. Our return flight to Chicago was one very long flight using Air New Zealand directly from Auckland International Airport to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Once we were in the air, most of the time the windows were tinted so dark one couldn't really tell if it was light out. I didn't shoot much footage out of the window after take off until we got close to Chicago and it seemed we were nearing our landing. I did capture one clip of farmland though. The turbulence got pretty bad at times as we made our way through thunderstorms. I saw one bright flash of lightning and hoped to capture some of it as we made our descent but apparently there was no more lightning. We approached Chicago over Lake Michigan, apparently having flown by and turned around, possibly due to the storms. After landing, I captured one lightning strike beyond the airplane that was sitting next to us while we were at the gate waiting to de-board the plane. Once we passed through the customs process and arrived at baggage claim, we had to wait for the storm to pass so that the tossers could collect the baggage and then send it to the carousels. Skot Shaw picked us up and as he drove us home, more weather related alerts came in. We gave the chocolates we bought to Skot to take and share with Rachel. On the ride back, I captured some footage of the city and back at the house, some footage of reuniting with Stein to finish off the project. It was a very long day as we left Auckland around 8pm on March 31st, 2023 and arrived in Chicago around 5pm on March 31st, 2023...still. We went back in time! ha! Despite this, I had some trouble falling asleep I suppose due to the time changes.
Additional soundtrack includes "Down Under" by Men At Work, "Dance Monkey" by Tones And I, "1998" by Rancid, "Leaky Tub" by The Rumjacks, "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by The Pogues, "The Fields Of Athenry" by Dropkick Murphys, "Poi E" by Patea Maori Club, "One Tree Hill" by U2, "Hey Ho To The Bottle I Go," "Fine Brew Of The Green Dragon," "Blunt The Knives," "Far Over Misty Mountain Cold," "Song Of The Lonely Mountain," and "The Lord Of The Rings Theme" from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, "How Long" by Flatfoot 56, "Window To Your Soul" by Delirium, "Promise Ring (Australian Version)" by The Lassie Foundation, "Bat Out Of Hell" by Meat Loaf, "Bat" by Leper, "Staring At A Bird" by The Waiting, "Keep Swimming" and "Keep Swimming (Ian Catt Remix)" by Soda Shop, "Ghost And The Grave" by Quiet Science, "Beneath Water" by Mike Mains And The Branches, "Like Fools They Bathed In The Pools" by Joy Electric, "There Go The Ships, Then Leviathan" by Ronnie Martin, "Shipwreck" by Covenant, "Love Is Changing Hearts" by Travelogue, "The Last Serenade (Sailers And Fishermen)" by Flogging Molly, "Urban Aire / Big Cat" by Afro Celt Sound System, "Walkabout" by The Blamed, "All Your Waves" by David Eugene Edwards, "Rainbow Signs" by mewithoutYou, "Of Nature" by Matisyahu, "Grave Digger" by Blindside, "Ghost In The Grave Yard" by Ghoti Hook, "Escaping The Grave" by Grave Robber, "Endurance" by The Crossing, "Song For Elie" by Ballydowse, "Since You Were Laid Low" by BEAST, "Ain't No Grave" by Sarah Carter, "I Lay Sleepless In My Grave" by Zao, "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish, "2 The Grave" by Middle Finger, "Grafton Street" by Dylan Rooke and Red Coal, "Grave Digger" by The Aggrolites, "Diggin' My Own Grave" by Glenn Kaiser, "Beachcomber" by Pomegranates, "Shared Graves" by SPACESHIPS, "Our Feet Like Anchors" by analecta, "Gravestones And Burial Plots" by The Transplants, "Sports" by Rodent Emporium, "Animal Kingdom" by theillogicalspoon, "Animal Woman" by Lovedrug, "Animals" by Dead Poetic, "Three Birds" by Geology, "Where The Birds Always Sing" by The Cure, "I Love You Like The Little Bird" by Starflyer 59, "I Am Not An Animal" by Ball-Peen Hammer, The Greatest Adventure" by Kevin Max, "Before The Rain" by VNV Nation, and "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door" by Underoath.
Footage filmed using an iPhone 12 and 14, Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone, and GoPro Hero by Elphie and Joel A. Swanson. Titles and other animations created using Motion 4 on a Macbook by Joel A. Swanson. Edited using Final Cut Pro on a Mac Mini by Joel A. Swanson.
